


Something to Fight For

by Ambs_Writes



Category: Runaways (TV 2017), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Developing Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Group dynamics, Identity Reveal, Post Season 1 of Runaways, Post Season 2 of Supergirl, Slow Burn Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, teenage angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-12
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2019-08-22 21:22:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 61,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16605689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ambs_Writes/pseuds/Ambs_Writes
Summary: The Runaways are exhausted. They've escaped their parents, ran from L.A. and crossed state lines three times before finally stopping to rest in National City. After being discovered by Alex and Maggie, the Runaways are taken into protective custody and end up in an old mansion owned by none other than Lena Luthor. Although they are out of their parents reach for the time being, things are from easy as the Runaways learn to trust their selves, their powers, each other and the adults helping them.  With National City and Kara herself still recovering from the emotional end to the Daxamite invasion two months prior, Kara eagerly focuses her energy on helping the Runaways. Although Kara's actions still haunt her, she and the Superfriends work with the Runaways to correct the sins of the past, and maybe learn a little something about family along the way.





	1. Welcome to National City

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Welcome to my newest crossover fic. I wasn't planning to post this until December but I've been having some health issues that have kept me home and writing so I decided to go ahead and show this to the world. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this story and I am always open to comments and criticisms both here and on Tumblr. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

They’re all exhausted. Alex, driving the stolen van, the second van they’ve stolen after ditching the first one because the symbol on the side was too recognizable, blinks wearily against the never-ending stream of headlights assaulting his vision. They’ve been driving for hours, only stopping to get gas at the worst smelling gas stations Alex has ever been too. Alex himself had been behind the wheel for the last three hours after taking over for Chase at the last gas station, steadfastly ignoring the forms of Karolina and Nico curled together in the backseat every time he looked in the rearview mirror.

He can’t believe they’ve come to this point. They left L.A., wanted for murder and kidnapping, crossed state lines into Arizona and then to Nevada before ending up in California again. They’ve changed drivers seven times, argued for hours on end. It was only as the sun went down on their second day of travel that the voices finally ceased. They all retreated into themselves, to tired to keep arguing and too scared to do anything else.

“We need to stop soon,” Gert’s voice breaks the silence that had fallen over the group, twisting her fingers together anxiously. “Old Lace’s getting restless. She needs to run.”

“I think we’re far enough away to stop,” Karolina chimed in, “at least for a few hours.”

She’s right, Alex knows. LA has long since faded into the background, the last of the city lights had vanished over the horizon hours ago. Molly’s already fighting sleep, slumped against Chase’s side in between him and Gert. Chase himself is staring straight ahead, his eyes far away. He hasn’t even noticed that he’s been absently brushing his fingers along Gert’s shoulders. Gert, on the other hand, seems acutely aware of that fact and doing her best not to react to it. Karolina, on the other side of Chase, is staring at her Gibb bracelet, toying with the clasp. Her fingers and linked with Nico’s, the smaller goth leaning her head against Karolina’s shoulder. Nico’s eyes are closed but Alex can’t tell if she’s truly asleep.

“I’ll take the next exit.” Alex says, mostly to himself. “See if we can find an abandoned warehouse or something to stay the night in.” Silently, Alex moves from the interstate, taking the first exit he sees, to National City. No one answers him, not that Alex expected them too. They’re each lost in their own thoughts, replaying everything that had happened in the last two weeks over and over again, just like Alex is.

How did they get here?

 

They drive for another thirty minutes before finding a warehouse that Alex thinks is sufficiently out of the way for them to catch a couple hours of sleep. Molly breaks the lock on the gate for them, her shoulders slumping with the effort after she tosses the broken metal to the side, and Alex guides the van to the back of the warehouse. Chase points out that they should position the van where they can get out easily, just in case, so he takes the wheel and backs the van into a good spot in the warehouse.

“Stay unseen girl and be back soon.” Gert directs Old Lace as she opens the van’s side door to let the dinosaur out. The rest of the group climbed out after the dinosaur to stretch their legs before holing back up in the van to sleep. Only Molly stayed behind, stretched out on the first bench in the van already sound asleep.

“Where are we?” Karolina asked as she walked to the door of the warehouse, surveying the unfamiliar skyline.

“National City,” Nico answered, coming up beside her, “at least according to Alex.”

Karolina nodded absently, rubbing her hands down her arms as she crossed them over her chest.

“Hey,” Nico touched her arm softly, “are you okay?” Karolina nodded her head.

“I’m fine,” she offered Nico a small smile, “guess I’m just not at a hundred percent yet.”

“Would it help if you could,” Nico gestured to Karolina’s bracelet, “glow?”

“Probably,” Karolina shrugged, “but we both know I can’t do that here. It’s not safe.”

“I know.” Nico nodded her head. “I just want you to feel better.” Nico’s blush was uncharacteristic but nonetheless adorable to Karolina.

“Thank you,” Karolina’s smile widened just the slightest bit, a flirty glint her eye that was becoming all too familiar to Nico. “We should get some sleep. We can’t stay here long.” Karolina uncrossed her arms, tangling her fingers with Nico’s again to lead her back to the van. They climbed in through the side door, shutting it behind them, and tucked into the spot Chase and Gert had left open for them on the floor of the van.

 

“You sure we’re in the right place, babe?” Alex asks her fiancée as they drive up to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of National City. Maggie had gotten a call for suspicious activity in the area while she was waiting for Alex at the DEO and J’onn, after Maggie had told him the details, sent Alex to investigate with her.

“This is the place,” Maggie double checked the address on her phone and killed the engine. “You ready?” Alex nodded, and the duo climbed out of the car. Maggie pushed her door closed but halted in her trek to the gate when a glint of metal caught her eye. “Danvers, you may want to look at this.”

Alex joined Maggie, crouching down beside her next to a broken lock. She surveyed the damage with a critical eye. “I only know of a few people strong enough to do that,” Alex traced the indents of fingers along the cracked metal, “and neither of them have been anywhere near here.”

Both women looked up at the sound of a crash nearby.

“Think we should call for backup?” Maggie asked as she drew her gun.

“Not yet,” Alex did the same, “just proceed with caution.” They pushed the gate open and entered the premises, guns raised but fingers off the triggers. They approached the main warehouse entrance and Alex signaled for Maggie to keep moving while Alex herself went around to the back entrance. They held gazes for second, silently telling the other to be careful before they each nodded and headed towards their respective entrance.

Maggie took a deep breath as Alex disappeared from her line of sight and turned towards the door. Turning on her flashlight and positioning her hands correctly, Maggie kicked the door open and stepped through. She pointed her gun and light first to the right and then to the left. Seeing no immediate threat, she stepped further into the warehouse. Out of the corner of her eye she spied Alex entering from the side door and Maggie released a sharp breath at the sight of her. Turning back to the task at hand, Maggie spotted the van towards the back of large room.

Whoever had parked the van had done a good job of making it blend in. The van was shrouded in shadow, Maggie probably would have missed it if she didn’t know there was something to look for. It was positioned in such a way that the driver could easily make a break for the large double doors, but also so that anyone else in the car could escape through the side door and make a break for the entrance Alex had come through.

Alex caught Maggie’s eye and gave one sharp nod. They moved to the van as one, each taking a side.

“NCPD, hands up!” Maggie said as she pulled open the side door at the same time Alex opened the driver’s door. “Put your hands where I can see them.” Maggie was stunned at the sight that greeted her.

It was a bunch of kids.

“Don’t even think about it.” She heard Alex’s voice and turned just enough to see a hand that had been reaching for the keys, still in the ignition, still.

One kid up front. Five in the back. They all rushed to put their hands up, a muscular boy and blonde girl taking protective stances in front of the others in the back of the van. Their eyes were wide, scared.

“Guys, what do we do?” One of them, a girl who looked to be the youngest of the group asked. The blonde girl’s hand twitched towards the silver bracelet on her wrist.

“Don’t move another inch.” Maggie ordered, her voice firm, her finger still away from the trigger of her gun. The girl froze, looking at the boy at the corner of her eye.

“Come on, get with the others.” Alex ordered the boy who had been in the front seat after walking him around to the side door. “Anyone feel like telling us what’s going on here?”

The kids stayed silent, the only sound their harsh breathing. Alex and Maggie shared a look and began to lower their weapons. They didn’t think a group of six kids, all of whom seemed scared out of their minds as a big threat. Before the could complete the motion, a low rumble sounded from behind them. Alex turned around, her eyes widening comically as she pulled her gun back into position. “Now may be a good time to call in that back up.”

“They’re just kids, Danvers.” Maggie argued, she had yet to see the monster Alex was now aiming her gun at.

“It’s not them I’m worried about, Sawyer.” At her words, Maggie turned around. She was met with the face of an angry, snarling, dinosaur.

Only her years of training kept her from screaming.

“Easy there,” Alex said as she lowered her gun again, positioning her body so she could see both the kids and dinosaur at the same time. “Supergirl, we could use a hand.” She said into her comm, missing the looks the kids shared with one another.

“This city keeps getting weirder,” Maggie muttered under her breath as she too put away her gun.

“We aren’t going to hurt you,” Alex addressed the kids, “any of you.”

“And we won’t let this guy hurt you either.” Maggie nodded towards the somewhat placated dinosaur, who seemed to be looking intently at the purple-haired girl in the back of the van. The girl rolled her eyes but before Maggie could say anything Supergirl appeared in the warehouse.

Flying in through the double doors, Kara hovered slightly above the floor before touching down gently. She took in the scene, scanning the six kids in the back of the van for any weapons, finding only what looked like a metal gloves with wires protruding from them, before turning to the two women outside the van. Seeing all unharmed, Kara began to wonder why her sister called her until she laid eyes on the last figure of the group.

“That’s,” Kara swallowed, “that’s definitely a dinosaur.” She scanned the creature with her x-ray vision just to be sure. “Anyone want to tell me what’s going on here?”

“Oh my gosh, it’s Supergirl.” A voice sounded from the back of the van. 

“Shut up, Molly!” Several voices layered the order and the youngest girl, Molly, wearing a pink cat hat looked down, chastised.

“She won’t hurt you.” The purple-haired girl spoke up. “As long as you don’t hurt us.”

“Sounds like a good deal to me.” Alex let out a puff of air.

“We won’t hurt you.” Kara promised as she approached the van. “But we need you to come with us.”

 

Alex drove the van with the six teenagers, and the freaking _dinosaur_ , to the DEO, Maggie following behind in her car and Kara flying ahead of them to let J’onn know. When they arrived, they were let into the underground garage with hassle, a gaggle of unarmed agents waiting for them with Supergirl.

“We won’t hurt you.” Alex told the kids again as she pulled the van into a parking spot and killed the engines. “Just, try to do as we say, okay?” None of the kids responded, but Alex hoped she had reassured them even if it was only a little bit. Something about these kids bugged her, not in a ‘these kids are clearly bad news’ way, more of ‘something terrible has happened to these kids.’ That didn’t set well with her at all.

They unloaded the dinosaur first. She was surprisingly subdued, Alex thought, and moved with a kind of grace Alex didn’t know a dinosaur could be capable of. Shaking off that thought, Alex gestured for some agents to lead the well-behaved creature to one of the larger holding cells.

“We wouldn’t happen to have any whole chickens on hand, would we?” Alex raised an eyebrow as a lower agent looked at her skeptically. “I’m sorry, would you rather be handling a _hungry_ prehistoric creature?”

“No ma’am.” The agent answered. “We’ll get some food for her.” The creature looked to the purple haired girl, the first of the kids to climb out of the van, who nodded while making shooing motions with her hands. The dino huffed but followed the path the agents mapped out for her.

“Let’s get these kids sorted now,” Alex whispered to her fellow agents as the rest of the kids climbed out of the van. “Put them in the interrogation rooms, separately.”

“Yes ma’am.” Vasquez nodded at Alex and then turned to the kids. “Follow me.”

The kids stayed silent, walking in pairs between the agents as they trailed after Agent Vasquez. The purple-haired girl and the girl with the pink cat hat, Molly, lead the way, followed by the shorter Asian girl and the blonde. The two boys brought up the rear of the group. They kept their hands down, Kara could see the tension in each of their shoulders, but they didn’t react to anything until they were each directed into different rooms.

“We are not splitting up!” The brunette girl spoke fiercely as the blonde was gently directed down a different hall. “Karolina!” The girl pushed against the agents holding her back.

“Nico go with them.” The blonde spoke. “They won’t hurt us.” Their eyes met, and a heavy moment passed between. Alex was considering stepping in when the brunette nodded her head and stopped fighting. “I’ll see you soon.”

Karolina moved into the room she was directed too, turning around quickly to try and catch a glimpse of the others before the door closed. She couldn’t see anything except the black glad agents and the red of Supergirl’s cape. She sighed heavily and turned back into the interior of the room. It housed only a small table with one chair on either side. All it needs is a glitchy light bulb, Karolina thought. Then, it’d be just like the interrogation rooms on those stupid cops shows she used to watch with her dad. With Frank. Who wasn’t actually her dad but was the only father Karolina had ever known.

The blonde sat in the chair facing the door, wondering if things would have been better if they had kept driving.

Down the hall, Nico paced the room she had been placed in. She thought about taking a seat in one of the chairs provided but she had too much restless energy to do so. She didn’t like being separated from the others, especially Karolina. Not after the last time they split up ended with Karolina severely injured and in the hands of the enemy.

Nico stopped short at the thought. The enemy. Was that really how she saw her parents now? How she saw her friend’s parents? Nico remembers how things had been before. Before they knew their parents were in a cult, before they were wanted for murder. Before Amy died. They had all been so close. One big happy family, even after Molly’s parents had died. Now, the family was fractured in two.

Nico had already lost one person she cared about to her parent’s pride. She wasn’t about to let that happen to anyone else.

In the room next to Nico’s, Molly sat on the floor near the back corner. She was as far away from the door as she could get, desperately trying not to lose control. She could feel her strength crawling under the surface of her skin, begging to be released in response to her fear. She could feel the glow in her eyes and desperately tried to stop it. She didn’t want to give up their secret, not again. She had already failed her friends once, when she accidently told the Wilders what they had seen. She wouldn’t do that again.

Gert was placed in the room across from Molly’s. She had claimed the chair facing the door, her fingertips tapping a complicated pattern on the table in an attempt to calm her nerves. It had been nearly three days since she last had her anxiety medication, and with Old Lace locked up somewhere else the panic was quickly setting in. They needed to get out of there, fast. Hopefully, before the nice ladies who found them realized who they were. Gert snorted. She didn’t have high hopes of that actually happening.

Chase was guided to the room across from Karolina, his backpack confiscated. He stood in the back of the room, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He tried to keep his face centered on a neutral expression, just in case anyone was watching. They didn’t need to know how scared he was. They should have kept driving.

Finally, Alex was in the room next to Chase. He had pulled the chair away from the table before sitting in it. His leg bounced with nervous energy. They people who found them had to know who they were by now. Everything was ruined. They’d be returned to L.A., charged with murder and kidnapping, and then no one would be around to stop their parents.

He should have kept driving.

 

In the DEO main hall, Alex and Maggie surveyed the kids on the monitors.

“They’re scared,” Maggie observed, “full of anxious energy, especially these two.” She pointed at the screens showing the boy who had been driving and the girl with purple hair.

“Winn, you got anything on these kids yet?” Alex asked, turning to the tech guy.

“Yeah, and it’s not good.” He handed Alex his tablet with the six kids faces on it.

“Karolina Dean, Nico Minoru, Chase Stein, Alex Wilder and Gertrude Yorkes,” Alex read off, “suspects in the homicide of Gibborim church member Destiny Gonzalez and suspected kidnappers of Molly Hernandez. Any information is to be reported to the LAPD immediately.”

“These kids are wanted for murder?” Maggie asked as Kara rejoined the group. She had gone to help feed the dinosaur, as the agents were too scared to approach her. “There’s got to be something missing.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.” Kara said as she read the information on the kids over her sister’s shoulder. “Those kids looked scared to death when you guys found them.”

“Should we contact their parents? I’m sure they want to know where their kids are.” Maggie suggested as Alex turned to look back at the monitors, connecting faces to names.  

“Agent Danvers, we found these in the glove box of the van.” Vasquez walked up, holing a Ziploc bag containing a roll of cash in one hand and now unloaded pistol in the other.

“Don’t contact anyone yet.” Alex ordered as she took the items from Vasquez. “Not until we get some answers.”

“Their names sound familiar.” Kara pointed out, her nose crinkling as she tried to connect the dots in her head, but there were too many pieces missing. “Winn, do we have any more info on them?”

“Working on it.” Winn yelled over his shoulder before returning to what he was looking at on the computer.

“In the meantime,” Alex moved away from the monitors and headed towards the interrogation rooms. “Let’s get some answers.”


	2. Interrogations and Other Happenings Part 1

Alex tried not jump when the door to the room he was in opened suddenly. Two women stepped in, the same two who had found the van.

“I’m Agent Danvers, FBI,” the taller of the two said, then gestured to her partner, “this is Detective Sawyer, NCPD.” The detective nodded her head in acknowledgement.

“You wanna tell us what six kids and a dinosaur were doing a stolen van in an abandoned warehouse?” Maggie asked, leaning her hands on the chair in a non-threatening pose.

“Sleeping.” Alex answered blandly, staring at his feet.

“That we much, we figured out for ourselves thanks.” Agent Danvers replied. “We were more asking about how the kids of the richest families in Los Angeles ended up in National City, wanted for kidnapping and murder.”

Alex felt his heart stop for a second. They knew. He swallowed thickly. Maggie shared a look with her fiancée, nodding slightly.

“I have nothing to say.” It was weak defense, Alex knew, but it wasn’t like he had another choice. He couldn’t really ask for a lawyer. He knew if he did, his parents would probably be called, they’d come with the rest of Pride and all the running he and his friends had done in the last few days will have been for nothing.

“I don’t think that’s true.” Maggie tried to catch the kids eye, but he refused to look up. “I think you’re scared, because you got caught in something over your head and now you’re in trouble.”

Alex looked up sharply at that, his eyes wide. He didn’t say anything.

“Struck a chord with that, didn’t I?” Maggie quieted after that, letting the kid work through his thoughts. She could read from his body language that she had struck a nerve. She met her Alex’s eye over the kids’ head, silently asking if they should continue or switch tactics. The DEO Agent took over.

“We can help you, Alex,” she started in a gentle voice, “but we can’t do that if you don’t tell us what happened.”

Alex’s mind raced. The two women were onto them, he knew, but could he betray his friends? They had so many secrets, none of them his to share. His stomach clenched when he thought of the secret he kept from Nico, how it tore them apart before they had a chance to really be anything. The Staff, Karolina and Molly’s powers, Chase’s abuse, Gert’s link with Old Lace. All their secrets balanced on the tip of his tongue, but Alex kept himself from saying anything.

“There’s nothing you can do,” he said instead. He opened his mouth to continue but closed it before anything more than a breath came out. The two women shared a look that Alex couldn’t see, he had resumed staring at his feet.

 

Alex and Maggie walked up to the main monitor a few minutes later, after standing in tense silence with the obviously scared out his mind boy who refused to say another word after claimed they couldn’t be helped.

“Have we found anything about their families yet?” Alex asked Winn, crossing her arms over her chest. This whole situation rubbed her the wrong way and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

“Yes, actually,” Winn dragged the information he was pursing on his tablet to the large monitor. “As you can see, these families are all vastly different.”

“I’ll say,” Alex mumbled, looking at the spread of doctors, scientists, engineers, actor, and religious leader presented to her.

“But they do have one thing in common,” Winn continued, “they all are part of a charity organization, PRIDE.” A spread of pictures filled the screen, mostly of the well—dressed parents of the six kids currently in the interrogation rooms, but a few that included them as well.

“They’re based in L.A., seem to be focused mostly on helping inner city kids it seems,” Winn pulled up an article about the construction of a school in poverty ridden area of L.A. “Most of their work has been towards this, but they have also made some contributions to other studies. These two,” he gestured to Dale and Stacey Yorkes, “have been working a cure for cancer that involves genetic modifications. They recently had a break in the research, a new medicine was launched just last week.”

“So, what changed between then and today?” Kara asked rhetorically, looking at the latest picture of the PRIDE families all together.

“That’s what we need to find out.” Alex had Winn pull the information back to his tablet, so she could see the live feed of the kids again. She surveyed them all carefully, looking for any sign that they could get one of the kids talking.

“Who should we talk too next?” Maggie asked as she came to stand beside Alex. Kara joined them as well.

“The protectors,” Alex pointed first at Karolina’s feed and then Chase’s, “these two jumped up ready to fight when we found them. We need to find out why.” Maggie and Kara nodded, waiting for Alex to decide who to speak to first. “Kara, you go talk to Karolina, Maggie and I will handle Chase.”

“Why do you want me to talk to her?” Kara asked, knowing that Alex liked for them to either work together or for her to ask the questions on her own.

“There’s something…different about her,” Alex replied, meeting her sister’s gaze. Kara nodded her understanding. She wasn’t sure what Alex was feeling, but she trusted her sister’s instincts.

“Let’s do this thing,” Maggie said, steering the sisters back down the hallway. Maggie entered the room with Chase followed by Alex while Kara entered the room across from them.

Karolina looked up at the sound of her door opening, her fingers momentarily stopping their motions in fiddling with the clasp on her bracelet. She was surprised to see Supergirl entering the room, instead of one of the black clad agents she had occasional heard passing by the door.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” Kara said after she opened the door, seeing how the girl in the chair had jumped.

“You didn’t.” Karolina went back to fidgeting with her bracelet, her eyes glued to the crest on Supergirl’s chest. Of course, she knew aliens existed before this whole deal began. That was impossible to deny when people like Supergirl existed in the world, but before it had seemed like such an abstract concept. Like, sure there were aliens, but not like, _aliens_ , aliens. Not the evil kind who wanted to take over the world or destroy it.

“It’s not actually an ‘S,’ you know.” Kara broke the silence, seeing were Karolina’s gaze was focused.

“What?”

“This,” Kara tapped a finger against her chest,” it’s not an ‘S.’ It’s a symbol, from my world.”

“What does it mean?” Karolina asked, her curiosity peaked. She’d never heard of the iconic gold and red letter standing for anything other than ‘Super.’

“El Myrrha,” Kara said, “’Stronger together’ in Kryptonian.” Kara took a seat in the chair across from Karolina, making sure to keep her posture as relaxed and open as she could. Karolina seemed to sink back in on herself when Supergirl sat down, her hand returning to her bracelet.

“That’s a Gibborium bracelet, right?” Supergirl broke the silence that Karolina seemed to want to keep. The younger blonde looked up sharply. “Your moms like the head of the church, right?”

“You know who I am?” Karolina asked, hating how shaky her voice came out.

“I know your name, Karolina Dean, and you your parents are,” Supergirl paused, “I know you and your friends are in trouble, in a pretty big way.” At the mention of her friends, Karolina leant forward.

“Are they okay? Can I see them?”

“They’re all fine,” Kara waited until Karolina released the breath she had sucked in at the news, “but I can’t let you see them yet. We need to know what’s going on here.”

“We didn’t kill that girl.” Karolina said, figuring that’s what Supergirl meant when she said they were in trouble. “I swear we didn’t.”

“I believe you.” Supergirl replied truthfully. The girl before her didn’t have a mean bone in her body. “But I need you to tell me who did, so I can help you.”

“You wouldn’t believe me.” Karolina said, her gaze aimed at the table.

“Try me.” Supergirl replied easily. She was more than ready to wait it out. Karolina was so close to breaking, she could feel it.

“Even if I did tell you, there’s nothing you could do about it. They’ve already gotten away with it. Just like they’ve gotten away with everything else.” Karolina mumbled the last bit to herself, but Kara heard her perfectly.

“What else did they get away with, Karolina?” Kara asked gently, but the girl didn’t hear her.

Karolina twisted her Gibb bracelet around her wrist as her mind buzzed. PRIDE had done it, they’d killed so many people over the years, they’ve murdered kids. They kidnapped Karolina. They turned their own kids in for murder. The sided with an alien over their family. Karolina could feel the emotions building in her throat. So much had happened, at such a fast pace. She hadn’t had the time to process it before. But now she had been sitting in a windowless room for god knows how long with only her thoughts to keep her company, until Supergirl walked in.

“Karolina?” The Kryptonian asked again after the girl in question remained silent. Her bracelet slid around her wrist, moving slightly so Kara could see the slight discoloration in the girls’ skin that came from years of wearing the bracelet in the same spot, leaving her with a stripe of skin that was less than the rest of her arm. Karolina was so lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realize the clasp had come open until it was too late.

The silver bracelet fell to the floor with a clatter, but Kara was more concerned with the bright colors that seemed to slowly encompass the girl. Karolina felt a rush of heat through her body as her powers activated and looked at Supergirl with wide eyes. Supergirl had risen to her feet on instinct and Karolina followed, tripping over her chair as she backed away from the heroine before her. Her breaths came in sharp pants, her lights growing brighter in response to her fear.

Kara came back to her senses, relaxing her stance and putting her hands up in the universal sign of surrender when she realized Karolina was growing more terrified by the second.

“It’s okay, Karolina. I won’t hurt you. I promise.” Kara could hear the girl’s racing heartbeat. She inched around the table, making sure to move slowly and keep her hands up so Karolina could see that she wasn’t going to hurt her. “I’m going to pick up your bracelet, okay?”

Karolina nodded slightly, her lights still glowing brightly as Kara knelt down and gently picked up her bracelet. “Does this suppress your powers?”

Karolina again nodded as she watched Supergirl examine the round metal. Kara took a step closer and Karolina’s powers flared up in warning. She clenched her fists, afraid she would fire off a beam at the woman currently trying to help her. Kara backed away as the lights got brighter.

“Who do you trust to help you?” Kara asked softly. She knew the best thing to do when power got out of control was to be around the person who calmed you the most. She’s been in this spot many times before, except in those cases she was the scared girl and Alex was the one helping her.

“Nico,” Karolina answered without thinking. There wasn’t anyone else she trusted more to calm her down, or at least not freak out that she was glowing.

“Okay,” Kara reached for the door. “I’m going to get Nico. Everything will be okay, Karolina.” Karolina nodded, her eyes falling closed as she tried to get her breathing under control while Supergirl rushed out of the room.

Kara located Nico in a second, after Winn directed her to the room down the hall. She pushed the door open and spotted the girl leaning against the back wall.

“Nico?” She asked, just to make sure she was getting the right the person.

“What’s it to you?” Nico asked, her usual snark coming out as a defense mechanism. Supergirl held up the hand still holding Karolina’s bracelet.

“It’s Karolina.” She explained, watching as Nico’s brow furrowed and her heartrate increased.

“What happened? Is she okay?” Nico asked rapidly, rounding the table so she was standing right inside the door.

“She needs you.” Supergirl said simply, gesturing for Nico to take the bracelet from her. Nico did so quickly.

“Where is she?” Kara didn’t answer the girl verbally, instead leading her to the room she had left Karolina in and pushing the door open for Nico. “Karolina?”

Karolina’s lights had dimmed slightly in the time it took for Supergirl to get Nico, but they were still astoundingly bright. Nico held the hand not holding Karolina’s bracelet up to shield her eyes as she made her way to the glowing girl.

“Nico?” Karolina asked softly as the girl approached her.

“It’s me, Karo. I’m right here.” Nico reached up, caressing Karolina’s face gently. Karolina nodded against her hand, her eyes closing again. “It’s okay, Karo. You’re safe. You’re not there anymore. You’re here, with me. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Nico continued to whisper reassuringly to Karolina, Kara pulled the door closed to keep any other agents from wandering in and stepped to the far corner of the room.

Slowly, Karolina’s lights began to dim. Kara could hear her breathing and heartrate return to a normal level and heard the _click_ the bracelet made as Nico fastened in back on her wrist. Karolina sagged against the wall, her energy drained, and Nico wrapped an arm around her waist to help steady her.

“Karo?” Nico asked softly. Karolina inhaled slowly, through her nose.

“I’m okay,” she said, opening her eyes and looking down at Nico, “I’m okay.”

“Karolina, maybe you should sit down.” Supergirl suggested, reminding the two teenage girls that she was still in the room with them. She had been content to let them work it out on their own, until she noticed Karolina becoming paler by the second the longer she stood on her feet.

“I’m fine,” Karolina insisted, though she made no attempt to move from the wall of stand up straight.

“She’s right, Karo,” Nico spoke up after surveying the girl, “you’re really pale.” Nico placed her hand against Karolina’s arm. “And cold. Karolina?”

Before the girl could respond to Nico’s statement, Karolina’s eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed in exhaustion. Kara dashed to her side, catching Karolina before she could hit the ground.

“Karolina?!” Nico called, worry written all over her face.

“She’s okay,” Supergirl said in an attempt to calm the distraught girl. “Nico, we can help her. It’s probably just a side affect of using her powers like that.” Kara prayed she was right, and her words wouldn’t come back to bit her in the ass later. Nico nodded slowly, calmed for the moment.

“We’ll take her to Agent Danvers, the agent who found you guys. She’s a doctor.” Supergirl explained, adjusting Karolina in her arms so she would be easier to carry. “Open the door and follow me.”

Kara carried the unconscious girl to her sister’s lab, Nico trailing behind, while ordering Winn to contact Alex over the comms and have her join them right away. Her sister walked in moments after Supergirl set Karolina down on one of the gurney’s.

“What happened?” Alex asked, pulling on gloves and moving to examine the unconscious girl.

“I’m not sure,” Kara replied. “She accidently took her bracelet off and then she just started glowing. The light was blinding, and it only got worse the more worked up she got. I tired to calm her down, but nothing was working. I went to get Nico and she helped calm Karolina down and put her bracelet back on. She was fine for a couple seconds and then she just collapsed.” Kara explained rapidly as Alex drew a bit of blood from Karolina and quickly ran some tests on it.

“There’s traces of solar radiation in her system.” Alex turned to Nico. “Do you know if her powers are powered by the sun?”

“I don’t know.” Nico stuttered out. “We only just learned about all this.”

“Okay, it’s okay. We can help.” Alex did her best to reassure the girl, who looked upset that she didn’t have any useful information. “Supergirl, take her to the sun room.”

“On it.” Kara picked the girl back up again, gesturing for Nico to follow her out. They moved a short way down the hall, entering the room Alex had moved their two yellow-sun immolator beds too, and placed Karolina on the one closest to the door. “These simulate the radiation from the sun,” Kara explained as she turned the device on. “If her powers are sun based, this should help her recharge.”

“Would it help if you took her bracelet off?” Nico asked, feeling uncharacteristically timid.

“It couldn’t hurt,” Alex entered the room. “Why don’t you take it off for her, Nico? She’d probably be more comfortable with that.”

Nico did as directed, unclasping the bracelet from Karolina’s wrist and then clasping it through her belt loop so she wouldn’t lose track of it. That seemed to make a difference, as Karolina’s color immediately improved. Nico remained by Karolina’s bedside, holding her hand, while Kara and Alex moved a little ways away to speak privately for a moment. Maggie joined them a few minutes later.

“Someone wanna fill me in?” She asked the Danvers sisters.

“Karolina’s an alien of some kind, with powers that are charged through solar radiation, at least it seems that way.” Alex explained.

“We were talking, and her powers kicked in by accident. She got scared and over exerted herself.” Kara filled in the rest.

“And the other girl?” Maggie looked back at Nico and Karolina.

“Nico’s the only one who could calm Karolina enough for me to get her here.” Kara replied. “Do you think we should let the rest of the kids know what happened?”

“Yes,” Maggie replied before Alex could say anything, “I don’t know how much Karolina told you, but we got a could bit of information from Chase. These kids have been through a lot,” Maggie gestured to the two girls. “This is just the tip of the ice berg.”


	3. Interrogations and Other Happenings Part 2

Chase worried he had given up too much information when Agent Danvers suddenly exited the room, leaving him alone with Detective Sawyer. He had started off trying to hold his tongue, honestly, he wanted too, but more than that he desperately wanted this whole ordeal to be over. These guys weren’t like the L.A.P.D., Chase rationalized to himself, they weren’t being paid off by his or his friend’s parents. They were just cops, even better, one was an FBI agent. Surely, they could help where the local police couldn’t? Chase hoped he wasn’t wrong.

“So, your parents are framing you for murder.” Detective Sawyer spoke, bringing Chase out of his thoughts.

“Yes.” Chase had just finished explaining, in as little words a possible, that it was PRIDE behind the killing of Destiny, not the kids. “They’ve been doing this for years, and they’ve always gotten away with it.”

“Because the charity group is just a cover for secret cult?” Maggie questioned, wanting to make sure she had all the facts correct, at least as correct they could be from one kids’ story. Chase seemed to take her questioning as disbelief.  

“You don’t believe me.”

“I didn’t say that,” the detective was quick to reassure him. “But I need to make sure I have everything right. I can’t start an investigation into this based on half-truths or a well-spun story.”

“I am telling the truth,” Chase insisted with a frown.

“And I believe you, I really do,” Maggie held up her hands in surrender. “I’m going to help you, Chase. I promise. So, I’m going to need you to tell me everything you can.”

“There’s some things that I can’t tell you,” Chase spoke softly, thinking about Molly’s powers, Nico’s staff, Karolina’s lights…Amy. “Somethings that aren’t my secrets to tell.”

“Chase,” Maggie began, intending to insist that he give her all the information he can, but Chase interrupted her.

“But, if you let me see my friends,” he looked Detective Sawyer in the eye, “we’ll tell you everything you want to know.”

“You’ve got a deal, kid.” Maggie offered him a small smile, one he hesitantly returned. “I’ll go see if we can get you kids moved into one room.” Maggie stood from her seat, shooting Chase one last reassuring smile over her shoulder as she left the room. Once she was gone, Chase, suddenly overwhelmed, dropped his head to the table and let out a deep breath. They were finally going to get some help.

 

It took surprisingly little convincing for J’onn to agree to letting the rest of the kids join Karolina and Nico in the sun room. Kara and Alex had expected him to put up more of a fight. No matter how innocent they seemed, these kids were still wanted criminals after all, but J’onn had only nodded his assent before swiftly moving out of the room.

Truthfully, J’onn while not actively reading the kids minds, did pick up on some passive thoughts. What he heard was enough to convince him that these kids weren’t truly criminals. He didn’t feel comfortable pushing further into their minds, and so left his favorite agent and detective to solve the puzzle while he directed Winn to keep looking into the kids’ parents.

The kids were ushered into the room one at a time to join Karolina, who had regained most of her color and had started to glow dimly, and the stoic Nico who stood beside the medical bed. Chase came in first, since Maggie had made the deal with him. Upon entering, he immediately stepped to the side of the bed opposite Nico. He took a moment to observe both girls, Karolina’s dim glow somewhat reassuring. Nico’s eyes shone with emotion, but he could see the bags beneath them, the exhaustion in her shoulders.

“What happened?” He addressed the shorter girl.

“She lost control of her lights,” Nico answered, her eyes not straying from Karolina’s face, “Agent Danvers said she probably over extended herself and getting some sunlight would help. That’s what these are for,” Nico indicated the lights producing a yellow glow. “She should wake up soon.”

“Are you okay?” Nico looked up to meet Chase’s eyes.

She nodded, “I’ll be better when she opens her eyes.”

Her gaze fell again, and Chase had the good grace to not push anymore. He didn’t understand what was happening between Nico and Karolina, but he could see the connection between them. It was something about the way they looked at one another. Even now, with Karolina unconscious and Nico visibly exhausted, there was a softness in her eyes. A light that eclipsed all else. Gert would probably call it heart-eyes, but Chase new it was something deeper. The emotion in Nico’s eyes matched what Chase felt every time he looked at Gert. Luckily for Nico, Karolina returned the affection. Chase wasn’t sure he could say the same about Gert.

The others joined them one by one, Alex trailing in last and looking slightly annoyed that all that everyone else had been moved before himself. He shuffled over to the bed, taking the only open spot at the foot of the bed. Nico and Molly lined one side of the gurney, Chase and Gert the other. Nico filled everyone in on what happened with Karolina before they began to quietly discuss what had happened while they had been separated.

Gert seemed surprised to learn that Alex, Chase, and Karolina had all been questioned before they were allowed out. Alex assured them that he didn’t give up any information and he turned to Chase with accusing eyes when the taller boy admitted that he had.

“You told them?” Alex was incredulous.

“Only that it was our parents who killed Destiny!” Chase defended himself. “I told Detective Sawyer that I wouldn’t say anything else until we were all together.”

“Why would you tell her anything?” Alex’s voice rose slightly and Kara, who had been standing just outside the sun room, letting the kids speak without actively listening to them, frowned.

“She’s a cop Alex! Detective Sawyer and Agent Danvers can help us.”

“We don’t know that! We don’t how far our parents reach is! We can’t trust anybody.” Alex demanded. The group had been so focused on the brewing argument, the failed to notice Karolina’s eyes fluttering open.

“You really think our parents have a man inside the FBI?” Gert interjected. “Alex, that’s ridiculous.”

“This whole situation is fucking ridiculous!” Alex yelled, his fists clenched.

“Guys stop fighting.” Karolina let the others know she was awake. Her lights brightened considerably as she sat up, her strength returned.

“Karolina!” Nico reached out, ready to steady Karolina in case she started to sway. “Karo, are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Karolina nodded, smiling as Nico placed her bracelet in her hand. Karolina clasped her bracelet in place, her lights fading as Alex and Chase resumed their argument.

“We can’t make stupid mistakes guys.” Alex insisted, glaring hard at Chase.

“And telling a federal agent that we’re innocent is a stupid mistake?” Chase asked rhetorically. “No, Wilder. That’s not how this is going to work.”

“Then how is it going to work, huh?” Alex yelled at the group. Gert jumped, and Molly’s eyes flashed yellow in response. “By spilling all our secrets and then putting on a light show?” He threw his hands up, pointing in Karolina’s direction.

“That’s not fair, Alex.” Nico spoke up, her words low. She stood close to the bed Karolina still sat on, their hands not quit touching. “This was out of her control.”

“Oh, I get it,” Alex spat, “Karolina gets forgiven at the drop of a hat, but poor, pitiful Alex, has to wallow in his guilt for days. Even if she messed up just as bad as I did.”

“This has nothing to do with that Alex.” Nico shook her head, opening her mouth to continue speaking before Alex stopped her.

“Of course not. Karolina only exposed our biggest secret to the government and who knows what she told them before she passed out. But, no, Karolina, she’s special. She doesn’t get yelled at. She gets fucking rescued.”

“Karolina didn’t do anything wrong.” Nico insisted, taking a step forward. “As for your betrayal, that’s between you and me.”

“Save it, Nico. I don’t want to hear it.” Alex waved a hand dismissively.

“Don’t talk to her that way!” Karolina spoke up again, her shoulders tense. She rose from the bed, advancing on Alex. “You do not get to act like the saint here, Alex Wilder. You do not get to talk down to us, or yell at us, for thinking the FBI could help. We are all in this mess together and arguing isn’t going to help anything. So, shut up, sit down and stop acting like an ass before I knock you out.” Karolina ended her tirade with a harsh poke to Alex’s chest.

Alex looked like he wanted to fight back. Chase took a step forward, ready to help Karolina in controlling the angry teenager, but Supergirl swept into the room before anything else could be said, Agent Danvers and Detective Sawyer trailing behind her. It was clear they had heard some of what transpired before they came in, but none of the adults mentioned it.

“Karolina, good, you’re awake.” Agent Danvers calmly directed the agitated blonde back to the gurney she had vacated. “I’m going to run a few more tests, just to make sure you’re not in danger of passing out again.” Karolina nodded as the agent hooked her up to all manner of machines.

“Not that we don’t appreciate everything your doing for us,” Gert spoke up suddenly after the silence stretched on too long for her to bear, “but is there any chance you guys could just, like, let us go?”

“Afraid not, kiddo,” Maggie replied, “we believe that you guys are innocent, and we want to help catch the real criminals here.”

“And, if you guys stay in National City, we can protect you from them.” Supergirl added. “Once Karolina is cleared, we’re going to take you to a safe place on the outskirts of the city until we can get a safe house set up.”

“Really?” Molly looked excited about the prospect of leaving the building. She felt caged in, especially with all the agents walking about.

“Really.” Supergirl assured her. “But the dinosaur is going to have to stay here until we can get to the actual safehouse.”

“That makes sense.” Gert whispered to herself, thought she didn’t seem to happy about it. “Can I see her before we leave?”

“Make it quick,” Maggie said. “Danvers is almost done with the tests, as soon as she is we are loading out.”

“Aye, aye captain.” Gert gave her a mock salute and then followed Detective Sawyer as she went find Agent Vasquez and take the purple haired girl to the dinosaurs holding cell.

“Where are we going to go?” Nico asked from her spot on the bed beside Karolina. Since the blonde didn’t have to lay down anymore, Nico happily claimed the seat beside her.

“My sister’s place.” Agent Danvers answered. “She lives in a loft on the outskirts of downtown. You won’t be spotted there. She’s already there waiting.”

“And she has food waiting. You guys like pizza, right?” Supergirl smiled when the kids nodded the affirmative.

 

Kara waited until all the kids were loaded into two DEO suburbans before taking to the sky and heading to her apartment. It only took her a minute to fly in through the window and she quickly pulled her day clothes on over her suit and pulled half of her hair up into a bun. With her glasses on her nose, Kara called her favorite pizza place and placed a large order, even for her. She knew Alex and Maggie were taking the fastest route from the city DEO headquarters to her loft, so she hoped the kids would believe they were arriving earlier than expected. She didn’t want them to ask too many questions, Kara had a tendency to blurt things out when she was under pressure. That’s how the media found out that she and Superman were related in the first place. She couldn’t go and tell these kids her secret identity, a task that would be harder than normal to keep a secret.

Kara hated having to lie to these kids. She knew they didn’t trust easily, or adults in general. Karolina’s reaction when Supergirl tried to help her with her lights proved that. She didn’t want to break the kids very fragile trust in her sister and Maggie. She knew her identity was there to protect people, herself and those she cared about, but that didn’t always sit well with her. These kids were a prime example of that. Keeping her identity from them felt like a betrayal, almost in the same way keeping her secret from Lena felt.

Kara found herself thinking of he Luthor heiress often. Almost a year since they met, and Lena was a close friend (even though she made Kara eat kale when they went out to lunch together). She had proved time and time again to be unlike any other Luthor, any other person Kara had ever known. She had a good heart, a brilliant mind, and she used the opportunities given to her to help people. A hero in her own right, one whom Kara admired greatly. Lena had trusted her with so much, Kara wished she could do the same.

Shrugging off her thoughts of Lena, Kara busied herself with the tidying up of her apartment while she waited for the kids to get there. She pulled out all her extra blankets and pillows, silently pondering if she should run out and get a couple air mattresses for the kids to sleep on, and piled them in the corner of the living room. It had been her idea to get the kids out of the DEO, after hearing the argument between all of them. Tensions had been running high between the group from the second they were all in the same room, Kara had hoped getting the kids out from under the governments thumb would help them out. Alex had been hesitant to agree, but Maggie had agreed with Kara. They agreed it was best to take them to Kara’s place for the time being, away from the heart of the city where Alex and Maggie’s apartment was. It would take some time to get a safe house equipped to handle six teenagers and their pet dinosaur.

The group arrived minutes later, stumbling into the loft at the direction of Maggie, who had led them up the stairs, with Alex swiftly closing the door behind them.

“Everyone, this is my sister Kara.” Alex nodded to her sister who offered the kids a smile and wave in greeting. “Kara, this is everyone.”

The kids introduced themselves one by one as they spread out around Kara’s loft. Nico and Karolina paired off, moving to the large windows in the dining room area of the loft while Chase, Molly, and Gert headed towards the couch. Only Alex remained by himself, standing close to the kitchen island.

“Make yourselves comfortable, guys. Pizza should be here in a few minutes. You guys got here faster than I thought you would.” Kara received non-committal grunts from the kids in response to her words, then turned to her sister and Maggie. “Any trouble on the way over.”

“None,” Maggie answered, “but whatever they were arguing about isn’t over yet.”

“I noticed,” Kara looked over the group. Alex had joined Molly, Gert, and Chase in the living room, but he sat across from them in one of Kara’s chairs instead of on the couch with the other three. Karolina and Nico remained by the window.

“You sure you’re okay to watch all of them?” Alex inquired.

“Of course, Alex,” Kara assured her, “we agreed this would be best until we could get them somewhere safer.” Karolina and Nico drifted over to the others as the TV flickered on. “I’ll keep you guys updated.”

The couple traded goodbyes with the heroine before making their way to their own apartment. Kara turned to head into the living room with the kids when her doorbell rang. Assuming it was the pizza being delivered, Kara didn’t bother to look through the door to see who was there. She was surprised, pleasantly, when she opened the door and found none other than Lena Luthor on the other side.

“Lena!” Kara greeted happily. “What are you doing here?”

“You haven’t answered any of my texts.” Lena answered, moving into the loft when Kara opened the door for her. “I was worried.” Truthfully, Lena hadn’t seen much of Kara since the Daxamite invasion just over a month again. She couldn’t help the guilt that crept up whenever she thought about how the invasion ended, how she condemned her best friend’s boyfriend to certain death if he didn’t leave.

“I’m sorry,” Kara gestured to the group of kids around the TV. “I’ve been helping Alex with a mentoring program at the Boys and Girls Club.” Kara used the agreed upon cover. “Maggie roped her into it, and she did the same to me.” Kara figured it was a plausible excuse, especially since Maggie had actually been a mentor for the Boys and Girls Club before. “I haven’t even looked at my phone all day.” That part wasn’t a lie.

“No need to apologize.” _I just wanted to make sure you were okay._ “It’s not a problem. I guess I should leave you to it, then.” Lena offered her friend a warm smile, ignoring the butterflies that fluttered in her stomach when Kara smiled back.

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” Kara offered. “Pizza should be here any minute now.” As if response, a knock sounded at her door. Kara directed Lena to drop her purse on the table and shed her coat as she moved to the door to get the pizza and pay the delivery boy.

“Pizza’s here!” Kara called over shoulder and the group of kids rose from their seats in almost unison. They hurried over to the dining room table, eyeing Lena warily. “Everyone, this is Lena. She’s a good friend of mine. You can trust her.” Kara hoped the kids believed her. “Lena, this is Chase, Gert, Molly, Alex, Karolina and Nico.” Kara pointed to each person in turn. Lena smiled at them all and gestured for them to dig into the pizza first as soon as Kara placed the plates on the table.

The kids gathered their food quickly, each loading their plates almost too much and stumbling back to the living room to reclaim their earlier seats. Kara pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge for each of them and made sure they had all the pizza they could possibly eat before grabbing a plate for herself. She and Lena sat at the table, leaving the kids to themselves in the living room, and chatted while they ate. Lena kept looking curiously at the kids, taking in their rumpled appearances and the way they seemed to eat like it had been days since they had a decent meal. Kara tried to remember if they had been given food while at the DEO, but she didn’t think they had. They had wanted to get all the interviews done before feeding the kids, but then Karolina’s powers had acted up and it slipped her mind. The pang of guilt that hits her when she realizes she had unintentionally neglected the kids needs almost made her drop her pizza.

“Alex, turn the volume up.” Nico’s voice drew Kara’s attention to the TV. She hadn’t realized the kids had turned to the news, which was currently running a story on a group of kids from Los Angeles.

“The police still have no leads on the case concerning the missing girl Molly Hernandez, and the five older teenagers suspected to have kidnapped her.” Pictures of the six kids in the living room appeared on the screen. “The kidnappers are also the main suspects in the investigation of the homicide of Destiny Gonzalez,” the newscaster continued explaining the facts of the case, but his words went unheard as Chase and Karolina jumped to their feet, turning to look at Kara with wide eyes.  

Lena stood up as the kids jumped, looking back and forth between the kids standing in her friends living room and the pictures on the screen. “Kara?”  

“Lena, I can explain.” Kara moved slowly around the table, noticing the protective stance of Chase and Karolina, and the grip Nico had on Karolina’s arm. “Everyone calm down. It’s okay. You’re safe here.”

“We need to go,” Alex said to his friends. No one moved. “Guy’s were busted! Move!” He tried to usher the group forward, but only succeeded in knocking Nico further into Karolina who, not expecting the sudden weight, fell to the ground.

“Karo, you’re bracelet.” Nico exclaimed as she climbed off the taller girl. Karolina’s lights illuminated her skin, reflecting off the metal of her bracelet which had come off when she fell. “Alex! I’m going to kill you.”

“What’s going on?” Lena asked, startled. “Kara?”

“It’s okay, Lena.” Kara promised. “Karolina, it’s okay. You’re safe. We won’t hurt you.” Kara cautiously approached the glowing girl. For each step Kara took, Karolina took one back. A swirl of light grew in her hand as she prepared to protect her friends. “I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

“Guys?” Karolina asked her friends, each of whom looked as shocked as she felt. She felt a hand on the small of her back, small and familiar. She took another step back as Kara moved forward, tripping over the leg of the coffee table.

Karolina stumbled as her leg collide with the wood, Nico stabilizing her before she could fall over but not before the swirl of energy in her right palm shot off, aimed at Lena. Before the Luthor heiress could react, Kara had stepped into the beam. The impact knocked her back a couple steps but when the light faded, only Kara remained, uninjured but with her shirt in pieces. She turned to Lena, the House of El emblem branded across her chest.

“Kara…” Lena’s eyes widened as she took in the ‘S’ on her best friends’ chest. “You’re,” Lena gulped, “you’re Supergirl?”

“Lena, I can explain. Please don’t go.” Kara pleaded before turning back to the startled teenagers. “You don’t have to be afraid.”

“Well,” Lena cleared her throat, “someone had better damn well start talking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I am blown away by your support! You guys are amazing! Please know I read every comment, usually multiple times, and I truly appreciate the kind words y'all leave me. 
> 
> For anyone who may be curious, this story is currently set to be 17 chapters long, with an idea for a sequel in the works. I'm always up for chatting about ideas, headcannons, the show itself and other things, over on my tumblr (@oimdil13) so please don't hesitate to hmu. 
> 
> I hope everyone is enjoying this story and look forward to continuing this journey with all of you. 
> 
> Bye y'all  
> -Ambs


	4. Explanations

Silence reigned for a few moment’s after Lena’s statement as the six teenagers in the room collectively held their breath. Karolina’s hand still glowed from the blast she had accidentally shot off at Lena, but she was too stunned by the turn of events to reach for her bracelet. Nico’s hand, small and warm, pressed against the small of her back did nothing to help her nerves either.

“Everybody, breathe.” Kara, Supergirl, spoke up. She threw an apologetic glance in Lena’s direction before turning her full attention to the scared teenagers. Lena looked between Kara and the door, her expression considering. “I promise, I won’t hurt you. I’m here to help.”

“You lied to us.” Alex spoke up. “I knew we couldn’t trust you.”

“I’m sorry you had to find out like this. This isn’t how I wanted to tell you.” Kara sighed. Lena couldn’t tell if she was talking to the kids or Lena herself. “But I didn’t keep this secret to hurt you. Any of you. As much as I believe you guys are innocent, I couldn’t risk telling you my secret only for you to betray us, or worse.” Kara took a hesitant step closer. The kids remained still.

“I knew there was something familiar about you.” Gert said softly. She had remarked to Chase and Molly after they arrived that Kara reminded her of someone. She just couldn’t put her finger on who.

“You guys have every reason to be angry at me, but please know I was only trying to protect you and myself. The more people who know my secret, the more people who my enemies can use to get to me.” Lena thought that statement was directed more at herself rather than the teenagers.

“I’m getting really tired of adults I think I can trust keeping secrets from me.” Nico’s voice sounded, anger and sadness swirling within in equal measure.

“I won’t do it again, I promise.” Kara made an effort to look each of the six teenagers standing in her living room in the eye. “I promise I will do everything in my power to help, however you need me too.”

The Runaways looked at each other for a few tense moments, Kara waiting with bated breath. Alex shook his head, signaling he didn’t think the group should agree but he was overruled by the others. After receiving nods from Molly, Gert, Chase, and Nico, Karolina turned her gaze to Kara.

“Okay.” It wasn’t much, but it was a start. Kara released a breath in the form of a relieved sigh, one crisis averted, before turning to Lena.

Lena took in Kara’s appearance with a thoughtful frown. Although the beam of whatever that was that Karolina had shot out of her hands (Lena had so many questions) exposed the Supergirl suit, Kara still very much looked like the woman Lena had come to care about so much. Her button up shirt, in pieces but still bright, tucked into her pants and accented by the stylish brown belt she wore, her hair halfway pulled up into an intricate bun. Her glasses perched on her nose, the blue eyes behind the glass shining with apprehension. They all painted a picture in stark contrast with the image of Supergirl Lena had in her mind. With flowing curls and a billowing cape.

“Lena?” Kara questioned when the silence continued.

“I want answers.” Lena said, her voice as harsh as she could make it when speaking with Kara.

“Of course.”

“But first,” Lena looked over Kara’s shoulder, “I want to know exactly who they are and why they need your help.”

“I can’t help with that.” Kara glanced over shoulder quickly before looking back at Lena. “I don’t know the full story. Only that they’ve been accused of crimes the didn’t commit.”

Lena nodded at Kara’s words, swiftly moving past her to the group in the living room. Kara turned as the brunette walked by, watching her approach the group.

The Runaways had sat back down after accepting Kara’s promise, Alex still separated from the group just a little bit, and Karolina had reclaimed her bracelet. The television was muted, the news had moved on to a different story, but the kids name occasionally showed up on the ever-changing banner that ran across the bottom of the screen. Lena surveyed them quietly for a moment. Karolina and Nico shared the chair closest to the couch, Nico sitting so close to the blonde she was practically in Karolina’s lap. Molly, Gert and Chase shared the couch, Gert’s leg bouncing with nervous energy until Chase placed a hand on her knee. Molly leaned against Gert’s shoulder. Alex, in the chair furthest from the couch, watched Lena with a critical eye.

“I’m sorry I scared you.” Lena addressed Karolina first, taking a seat on the coffee table.

“I’m sorry I almost shot you.” Karolina returned. “I didn’t, I wasn’t trying to hurt anyone.” Nico took her hand.

“I know. You were scared and protecting your friends. It’s okay. No one got hurt.”

“Someone could have.”

“That’s true,” Lena conceded, “but I was just as likely to get hurt walking down the side walk. Statistically speaking, I’m more likely to get run over by an angry cow than anything else.” That pulled a laugh from the group. Kara watched as the kids began to relax again. Lena had that affect on people.

Kara moved closer to the group, standing between the couch and the chair. Lena offered a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. The smile Kara sent back felt forced.  

“Will you tell us how you guys ended up here?” Kara asked softly. Gert and Chase shared worried glances, as did Karolina and Nico.

“You don’t have to,” Lena was quick to reassure them

“We are going to keep you guys safe no matter what.”

“It’ll just be easier when we know what we need to keep you safe from.”

“I still don’t think we can trust you.” Alex said, looking to his friends for backup.

“What other option do we have, Wilder?” Chase asked rhetorically.

“We’ll tell you,” Nico said, continuing after Karolina nodded encouragingly, “but it’s a long story.”

This time it was Kara and Lena who shared a glance. “We’ve got nowhere else to be.” Lena spoke for the both of them. Kara moved to sit next to Lena of the coffee table, leaving a good deal of space between them.

“It started a few weeks ago, with our parents annual PRIDE meeting,” Nico began their tale. “We stopped going when our parents had their meetings two years ago, but that night we decided to get together. We ended up in Alex’s dad’s study and found this secret passage to a room beneath the house. Our parents were down there, wearing these long red robes.”

“We weren’t sure what was happening, we couldn’t hear them. There was this dome around them.” Karolina continued. “Then they brought out this girl. I knew her from the Gibb church, I had talked to her earlier that day actually. She was sweet.” Karolina looked down, obviously upset. Nico squeezed her hand. “They made her drink something out of this chalice and then laid her down in this big black box thing.”

“Then there was a bright light and when it faded it was just our parents standing there.” Molly picked up the story. “I couldn’t really see, so I tried to take a picture of them. They saw the flash and almost caught us while we were running out, but we managed to get the door open.”

“We didn’t know for sure that our parents had killed her, but it was the only thing that made sense.” Chase carried on. “After that, we did some digging into our parents secrets and found out that they had pretty much been lying to us for our entire lives. Everything they had, they had because of this guy, Jonah.”

“We don’t know much about him, honestly. Only that he has some sort of fascination with Karolina.” Karolina looked like she wanted to speak up but decided against it and let Nico keep speaking. “We found out that the school they said they were building was just a cover for a giant tunnel they were digging. We tried to fill it in while our parents thought we were at a dance. We tried to push a truck into the hole. Molly has incredible strength, but she falls asleep almost immediately after using it.” Curiously, Nico, Karolina, Gert and Chase blushed at the mention of the dance.

“They caught us. I tried to fight off Jonah, but he was so much stronger than I am.” Karolina said.

“There was a blast, like and EMP went off and they took Karolina back to the Gibb church. We rescued her and were looking for a bus out of the city when our parents turned us in for kidnapping and murder. We stole an unmarked Gibb van and took off as soon as we could. We’d been driving for almost three days when Agent Danvers and Detective Sawyer found us.” Nico finished the bulk of the story.

“And they brought you to the DEO for questioning,” Kara filled in the rest of the story for how the kids ended up in the apartment for Lena’s benefit.

“I though Agent Danvers worked for the FBI?” Chase questioned.

“No, that’s her cover.  Technically, the branch she works for doesn’t exist. The Department of Extranormal Operations.”

“Ah, okay,” said Gert, “the alien handling branch.”

“Basically,” Kara shrugged. Gert wasn’t wrong after all.

“And that’s everything?” Lena asked the group at large. Karolina looked up sharply.

“Not quite.”

“Karo?” Nico asked curiously.

“There’s one more thing we know, about Jonah.” Karolina looked directly at Nico. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you guys after everything that happened but,” she took a deep breath, “he’s my father.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Jonah,” Karolina turned her gaze to Gert in response to her question, “he’s my biological father.”

“That why he lights up, too.” Nico whispered, more to herself than the others. Karolina nodded in response. Kara and Lena shared another look.

“Thank you for trusting us with this.” Kara said. “We’ll figure out what they were after, and we’ll put a stop too it.”

“You believe us?” Molly looked stunned and hopeful in equal measure.

“Completely,” Lena assured her. “I promise.” Molly smiled for the first time since Kara had met her. “Kara?” Lena gestured for the blonde to move away from the group.

“I can’t believe these kids have been through so much,” Lena said once she and Kara were in the kitchen area and out of earshot of the kids, “no wonder they were so scared when that story came on.”

“I need to get them out of the city.” Kara said. “The longer they’re here, the more likely they’ll be spotted.”

“Why did you bring them here?” Lena questioned. “As much as I love your loft, this really isn’t the place for six teenagers.”

“Be glad I didn’t bring the dinosaur.” Kara rolled her eyes.

“What?” Lena’s voice rang with shock.

“They didn’t mention the pet dino in their story, did they?”

“No.” Lena shook her head. “No matter, I’m sure I’ll meet it at some point.”

“Her. She’s a girl.”

“Her then,” Lena nodded, “but you didn’t answer my question.”

“The DEO doesn’t have a safehouse big enough to house all of them. We could split them up, but I don’t think they’d be okay with that. Especially Nico, she put up a fight when we separated them for questioning at the DEO.” Kara shrugged. “They were clearly uncomfortable around all the armed agents, so I brought them here until we could work out something better.”

“This is so crazy,” Lena said, “although, I guess, not as crazy as finding out your best friend is secretly a Kryptonian superhero.” There was more bite to her tone than she intended, but she wouldn’t take it back.

“I wanted to tell you.” Kara pointed gestured to her tattered shirt, “not like this but actually tell you.”

“Why didn’t you? I thought you trusted me.” Lena couldn’t keep the hurt from creeping into her voice.

“I _do_ trust you, Lena. There were so many times I almost told you, but I thought you’d hate me if you found out. Not because you’re a Luthor. Please don’t for a second think that I kept this from you because of your family.” Kara looked deeply into Lena’s eyes.

“If not because of that, then why?”

“I didn’t want to lose you.” Kara admitted softly.

“Kara, I’m not going to stop being your friend because of this.” Lena said softly, her eyes softening. No matter how hurt of angry she was, she could never stop caring for Kara.

“That’s not what I mean,” Kara shook her head. “You probably never noticed before, but you gave me a freedom that I’ve never had before. Everyone else in my life sees me in a certain way. As Supergirl, the hero, or Kara Danvers, Alex’s sister, the reporter at CatCo, Cat Grant’s infamous personal assistant.” Kara chuckled slightly. “I didn’t have to be any of those with you. I didn’t have to be the infallible hero or the perfect assistant, or the baby sister. I was just me, as much as could be. I didn’t want to lose that version of you, the one who only saw me and not all the other people I have to be.”

“Kara…” Lena was speechless, only able to whisper her friends name. She swallowed against the lump of emotion that had formed in her throat. Her mind, trying to process all the information she had gained in the last hour since she arrived at Kara’s loft. Her brain was already in overdrive from the wild life the kids had to live through, and Kara’s admission sent her spinning.

“You don’t have to say anything, Lena.” Kara spoke again, mistaking Lena’s shocked silence for the anger she had expected. “I don’t expect you be okay with all of this. I know you’re probably hurt and angry and you have every right to be.”

“I’m not.” Lena finally found her voice. “I’m not angry, Kara. Hurt, yes, but I just need time. To process.” Kara nodded in understanding. “Call Alex, tell her I know place to keep the kids. I’ll call you once it’s set up.” Lena moved to the table to get her purse and jacket before walking to the door. “Thank you, for dinner and everything else.”

“You’re welcome.” Kara offered her a small smile, one Lena returned hesitantly, before the brunette left the loft. Kara closed the door behind her, leaning her forehead against it.

“Kara? You okay?” Kara hadn’t noticed Molly walking up behind her and jumped slightly when she spoke.

“Yeah,” Kara cleared her throat, “of course.” She led Molly back over to the others and settled on the arm of the couch.

“I’m sorry I exposed you like that.” Karolina said once Kara joined them. Kara shrugged.

“It’s okay. She would have found out sooner or later anyway.”

“Still.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Kara smiled reassuringly at her. “It’s been a long day, and no offense but you all look exhausted. Let’s get some rest.”

Karolina rose from her seat to help Kara pass out blankets and pillows for the group. Molly and Gert shared the couch, each with laying with their head on the arm of the couch and their feet in the middle. Chase laid on the floor in between the couch and coffee table, his upper body below Gert’s side of the couch. Alex claimed the floor on the other side of the coffee table. Nico spread a blanket on the floor behind the couch, placing two pillows on the edge, one for her and one for Karolina. Karolina shot her smile and tossed another blanket to Nico for them to cover up with. Kara made sure they were all settled before moving to her own bed.

She pulled the curtain that separated her bed from the rest of the loft closed, offering the kids a little privacy, before changing out of her tattered clothes and into some pajamas. She texted Alex quickly, telling her that Lena had place for them to stay and that she’d explain later. Alex sent back a string of question marks, but Kara just set her phone aside instead of responding. She listened as the kids settled down, soft voices reaching her ears that she made a point to not listen hard enough to tell what they were saying. The voices faded one by one as they drifted off, until Kara remained the only one awake in the loft.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I'm sad to say this will be the last chapter posted for a little while. I don't mean to leave you guys hanging but I'll be studying for/taking finals for the next two weeks, then Christmas with the fam and then I'll be having my tonsils removed and the doctor's say it will take a little while to recover. I'll still be writing in the mean time and I hope to have the remaining 11 chapters that I have finished writing ready to go so I can go back to weekly updates once I recover. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading this story and leaving all these wonderful comments! And since I won't be posting again until at least early January, I hope you all have a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanuka (or any other holidays that I can't think of off the top of my head) and Happy New Year. 
> 
> Hope to be back soon. Bye y'all  
> -Ambs


	5. A New Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! Bet you didn't expect this. I know I said I wouldn't be posting again until after the holidays but my surgery got pushed back and I managed to pass all my finals, and we've gotten so much great content in the last couple days I just couldn't resist. So, in the spirit of Christmas, my gift to you is this chapter.

The drive out of the city was made mostly in silence, the six teenagers split between two vehicles with Kara following behind on Alex’s motorcycle. Alex and Maggie each drove a DEO suburban, the back seats down in Alex’s to house the surprisingly docile dinosaur whom Alex learned was named Old Lace, to the address Lena had texted Kara that morning. The teenagers were happy to get out of Kara’s loft. It was better than the DEO, but with six kids it was pretty cramped.

“Are we sure this is the right place?” Maggie’s voice sounded in Alex’s ear over their comms.

“This where Lena said to bring them.” Kara responded as the caravan drove down a winding driveway that led to an impressive, if a but run down, mansion.

“Where is here?” Alex asked while climbing out of the driver’s seat. “Has she said anything else?” Alex wasn’t sure how comfortable she felt leaving these kids in the hands of Lena Luthor, no matter how much her sister trusted her. Sure, she had helped out during the Daxamite invasion, but Alex didn’t know her that well. Maggie had assured her that everything would be okay, trusting Kara’s instincts when it came to the Luthor.

“Here, is an old family mansion.” Lena had come out of the mansion’s double door entrance, dressed as perfectly as always. “It’s a little run down, but far enough off out of the way that they’ll be safe here.”

“Wow, Lena this place is incredible.” Kara spoke after pulling off her helmet. Lena smiled at her, though she seemed a bit struck by Kara’s appearance. Even though Kara couldn’t get hurt if she ended up crashing the bike, she still preferred to ride safely. That included wearing a helmet, a leather jacket, and leather pants.

“I’m glad you like it.” Lena finally spoke after watching Kara dismount the motorcycle and clearing her throat loudly. To the side, Maggie had a hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing, as did Gert and Nico. Karolina shared a glance with Nico and let out a small snort. Alex missed the entire ordeal, too busy opening the back of her suburban so Old Lace could crawl out, only turning to see Maggie trying to hold in her laughter. “I’m sorry it took so long to get it set up.”

“Lean, it’s only been two days.” Alex rolled her eyes.

“Of course, it isn’t in the best condition. The outside could use some work, but I made sure the plumbing and electric were all up to date and had all the bedrooms furnished.” Lena lead the group inside the mansion. They found a drab interior, the wallpaper crumbling off the walls and some fixtures clearly worse for wear, along with a couch that looked brand new and sizeable television. “Still need to stock the kitchen, but I figured the sooner you guys could get here, the better.”

“You did all this in two days?” Gert asked, running her hand along the back of the couch.

“You’d be surprised what can happen when you have a lot of money and Luthor for a last name.” Lena said, shrugging as if it was no big deal. “All the bedrooms are on the second floor. The one right off the stairs to left is mine, but you can pick any of the others for yourselves.”

“Really?” Molly asked, her excitement clear. Lena nodded, and Molly raced for the stairs Lena pointed too.

“I guess we’re going upstairs then.” Gert mumbled, following her sister with Chase and the others trailing behind.

“This place really is amazing.” Maggie commented as Lena lead the adults to the kitchen after the kids departed. “I can’t believe you did all this in two days.”

“Thank you for helping us with this Lena.” Alex said, rubbing a hand down Maggie’s back as her fiancée took a seat on one of the stools around the island in the kitchen. “I don’t know where we could have put them if you didn’t have this place.”

“I’m sure you would’ve figured something out.” Lena pulled some water bottles out of the fridge, the only thing she had to offer.

“We’re not equipped to handle this large of a group.” Alex explained, “all of our safehouses are equipped for two, maybe three people. Our only option would have been to split them up.”

“Which none of them would like.” Maggie joined in, leaning into Alex slightly.

“And I had no clue what to do with Old Lace.”

“Right, that’s the dino’s name?” Alex nodded the affirmative. “Well she’ll have plenty of space to run around here without anyone seeing her. I amped up the security a bit. We’re not completely off the grid, but we’re as close as we can get without completely destroying all our phones. I’m confident no one will find us here unless we want them too.” Lena took a sip of her water.

“I can’t believe you did all this so quickly.” Kara said, in awe. “We can’t thank you enough for this, Lena.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Kara,” Lena smiled at her. “I’m happy to help, however I can. These kids deserve a chance.”

“Speaking of the kids,” Maggie said, sharing a look with Alex. “We need to figure out what their parents are up too, and how to stop them.”

“And we need to do it quickly. Their parents have to be looking for them, and the longer it takes to find them, the more danger they will be in.” Alex chimed in. “We can’t let that happen.”

“And we won’t.” Kara spoke to reassure everyone in the room. “J’onn has eyes on the parents already but we can’t do anything until we have proof. Right now, we have the kids’ word against the parents. We need more.”

“It’s going to take time to get anything solid.” Maggie added. “These people are well-respected and connected. They’ve been careful about all this for who knows how long.”

“They were only caught by sheer dumb luck,” Alex sighed. “We’ve got to be patient.” Alex hated this part of the job, the waiting for something to happen. It made her antsy.

“In the meantime,” Lena said, “there’s plenty of room for all of you to stay here, if you’d like too.”

“I think I should.” Kara said. “Just in case. Karolina doesn’t have control over her powers without her bracelet and we don’t really know anything about Molly’s strength yet.”

“That’s a good idea.” Alex said. “We’ll stay in the city, but we’re only a call away if you need us.”

“Have you thought about what to do in the meantime, while we’re looking for answers?” Kara directed her question to Lena. “I mean, I’m sure they’ll be entertained for a while with just exploring this place but that won’t last long.”

“She’s right,” Maggie jumped in, “they seem to get restless pretty easily. They’ll need something to keep them occupied, or at least to keep their minds off what’s going with their parents.”

“Aside from getting them clean clothes, hot showers, and warm food, I have no idea.” Lena admitted. “I was mostly worried about getting them here safely.”

“What about helping Karolina and Molly explore their powers?” Alex suggested. “If there’s anyone who can help two superpowered kids learn control, it’s you, Kara.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kara hummed, “but what about the others?”

“Maybe we should ask them when they come back downstairs? I’m sure they’ll all figure out their rooming situation pretty quickly.”

There was a loud thump from the floor above them, followed by yelling.

“Or maybe not.” Lena chuckled.

“Think we should check on that?” Maggie asked. Alex shrugged.

“They’re probably fine.”

 

“This place is great.” Molly lead the way as the six teenagers meandered around the second floor of the mansion. Gert seemed to be the only one interested in keeping up with Molly’s running commentary as she moved down the hall. While the youngest member of the group remarked on every single thing they passed from the crumbling wall paper to the weird ass painting on the left wall just passed the third door, the others only hummed if addressed directly. They were each too lost in their own thoughts, replaying the whirlwind of events that had happened since they ran from L.A.

As if running in the first place wasn’t crazy in and of itself, that they ended up in National City being helped by _Supergirl_ and _Lena Luthor_ was fucking insane, at least in Nico’s opinion. Nico still had trouble believing any one would help them, not to mention two of the most powerful women in the world. Then again, Nico also had trouble believing someone as amazing as Karolina would want to even stand next to her, let alone hold hands, but that didn’t stop the blonde from doing both of those things. Nico’s pretty sure Karolina’s hand in hers, thumb rubbing softly along the back of her hand, is the only thing keeping her sane at that point.

“Woah, Nico, this room was like, made for you.” Molly’s words finally pulled Nico from her thoughts. The goth girl moved to the front of the group, pulling Karolina with her because she didn’t want to let go of her hand, to look into the room Molly had just entered.

“Did you say that just because the bedding is black?” Nico asked, amused, as she and Karolina entered the room.

“No,” Molly stuck her tongue out, “I just think it matches your whole aesthetic.”

“Right,” Nico surveyed the room, the smell of paint reaching her nose, not quite fresh but not quite stale either. She wondered if Lena had had all the bedrooms repainted. The walls were painted a navy blue, accented with a dark grey that matched the pillow cases on the bed. The sheets and blanket were both black, with a soft grey blanket laying at the foot of the bed. The furniture seemed to be a complete set, the bed, dresser, and side table made out of the same dark wood. “What is my aesthetic exactly?”

“Darkness and magic.” Well, she had a point.

“So, I guess we know where Nico is staying,” Chase remarked, his eyes lit with mischief as he looked at the girl indicated, still holding hands with Karolina. “Although this place doesn’t really match Karolina, does it?”

“Well, it’s not my room, so…” Karolina trailed off, looking anywhere but at Nico. Chase held in a laugh at the identical pink cheeks the girls sported. Gert caught his eye, smiled, and then smacked him on the arm.

“What was that for?” He asked, faking a pout. Gert rolled her eyes and decided not to answer. Instead, she moved to the far side and opened the dark curtains. Sunlight flooded the room, and Molly came over to help her sister open the curtains all the way, revealing a double door leading to a small balcony. Karolina perked up at the sight of the doors and dragged Nico out onto the balcony.

“Woah.” The view that greeted them was of what had once been a spectacular backyard but was now just as run down as the rest of the house. They could see the remains of a garden beyond where the grass ended, where Old Lace poked around the weed-filled beds. An empty pool filled with dried leaves sat pitifully on the left-hand side of the yard. Honestly, it reminded Alex of the view from a window on the second floor of his parents’ house in L.A., all that was missing was the guest house.

“I wonder who lived here before.” Molly ran her hand along the balcony railing.

“Lena said she owned the place, and she had to get the electric and plumbing fixed.” Gert supplied. “It’s probably been in the Luthor family for generations.”

“It’s been abandoned for a while though, by the looks of it.” Chase pitched in.

“I thought the Luthor’s lived in the Metropolis area,” Nico said, “at least before Lena moved to National City.”

“They did.” Gert agreed. “Maybe this is like an old vacation home or something?” She shrugged.

“We should find rooms for the rest of us,” Chase suggested. Gert nodded in agreement and turned to go back inside the mansion. Molly followed her sister, with Alex trailing behind. Karolina turned to do the same only to be stopped by Nico pulling on her hand.

“Nico?” Karolina questioned, allowing herself to be pulled back to Nico. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” Nico nodded, suddenly feeling much less confident then she had been when she stopped Karolina from leaving with the others. She looked up, finding Karolina’s caring eyes already trained on her. Nico felt herself melting a bit. Karolina had that affect on her. “I mean, as okay as it can be.”

“Are you sure?” Karolina didn’t look convinced and for a second Nico wished the blonde didn’t know her so well. Karolina had always been able to see through her mask, when they were kids, when they spent two years not speaking, and even more so now, with this _thing_ lingering between them.

“No,” Nico said honestly, because lying to Karolina didn’t feel right. “I mean, yeah, everything is pretty good, all things considered. We could still be driving endlessly and bickering over the music, or we could have been, I don’t know, found by some weirdo instead of the Agent Danvers but,” Nico took a deep breath, highly aware that she was beginning to ramble.

“But?”

“I, um,” Nico struggles to change what she’s feeling, the twist in her stomach that eases when Karolina squeezes her hand, into word form. “I guess I just need a straight answer.”

“To what question?” Karolina’s gaze is reassuring, open and honest.

“This one?” Nico pulls their joined hands up to chest-level. “Things have been different between us since the dance, but so much has happened and we haven’t been alone for longer than two seconds until now. I just need to know what this means?”

“For one,” Karolina smirks, “it means your question doesn’t have a straight answer.”

“Karolina.” Nico’s voice is not amused but Karolina can see the laughter in her eyes.

“I like you, Nico.” Karolina’s spoke lowly. “I didn’t kiss you at the dance just because it was an end of the world situation. I kissed you then because I couldn’t go another minute without showing you how I felt. I didn’t expect anything more than a single kiss, I still don’t honestly.” Karolina smiled softly at the shorter girl. “This, whatever is going on between us, can be whatever you want it to be. If you want to be friends and forget the kiss ever happened, that’s what we’ll do.”

“And if I don’t want to do that?”

“Then we’ll figure it out.” Karolina let go of Nico’s hand for the first time since they arrived at the mansion, bringing her hand up to cup Nico’s cheek. Nico leaned into the touch. “It’s up to you, Nico.”

Standing there, on a balcony overlooking the backyard of their new home, with the sounds of their friends bickering barely reaching her ears and Karolina’s hand cupping her face so gently, Nico felt breathless. Her heart beat frantically within her chest as she stared into Karolina’s eyes, sure the blonde could hear it, too. She was lost Karolina, the blue of her eyes, the pink in her tanned cheeks, her soft smile. She looked at Nico so tenderly, so openly, absent any pressure or expectation for Nico to do or be anything other than what she wanted to. In that moment Nico had her answer.

The smaller girl was just rising to her tip-toes to connect her lips with Karolina’s when a crash from the hallway drew their attention.

“Karolina! Come help me beat up Chase!” Molly’s voice floated to the balcony, followed immediately by Gert herself.

“Oh,” Gert surveyed them, Karolina still caressing Nico’s face and Nico half on her toes, glaring daggers at Gert. “She’s a little busy, Molls!” Gert called over her shoulder with a smirk. “We found rooms for everyone but you, Karolina.”

“Great. Leave.” Nico spoke before Karolina could, obviously displeased.

“Why are Molly and Chase fighting?”

“They both want the same room.” Gert shrugged in a ‘well, what can you do’ sort of way. “I’ll fill you in later. But right now,” Gert’s tone was teasing, “I think I should go before Nico murders me with her eyes.”

“Good idea.” Nico had settled back into her original position, sulking as Karolina laughed. “I’m glad you’re amused.”

“I’m more than amused.” Karolina stated, smiling widely.

“Why’s that?”

“Because,” she tapped Nico’s nose, “Gert won’t let anyone else bug us for a good fifteen minutes.” Her smile grew. “Which means you have fifteen minutes to finish what you were about to do.”

“What makes you think I was going to do anything?” Nico asks, but she’s already reaching for Karolina.

“Call it a hunch.” Karolina has no idea where this newfound confidence is coming from, but when Nico connects their lips, she can’t quite bring herself to care. Nico’s hands rise, one cupping Karolina’s cheek and the other sliding to the back of her neck. Karolina’s arms wrap around Nico’s waist, lifting slightly so she doesn’t have to bend down so far. The kiss is soft, lingering, their lips separating for the briefest second before connecting again. Karolina feels weightless when they part and has to check she still has her bracelet on just to be sure she’s not flying.

Nico pulls back slightly, setting her weight back down on the balls of her feet instead of the toes. Her cheeks are flushed, matching Karolina’s. They stare at one another for a second, breathless and happy, before Nico breaks the silence.

“So,”

“I told you it wasn’t a straight answer.”

“Shut up.” Nico can’t stop smiling. “Does this mean, are we together now?” Nico looks unsure now, her fingers twisting in the hair at the nape of Karolina’s neck.

“Do you want to be?” Karolina returns. She ached to say yes, but she needs to make sure Nico knows she had a choice. Karolina would never force her into anything.

“Yes.” Nico’s answer come readily. “I want to be your girlfriend, Karolina, more than anything.”

“I want that, too.” Karolina smiles and this time it’s she who connects their lips. Nico kisses back and Karolina is sure she’s dreaming. She’s kissing her girlfriend. Nico Minoru is her girlfriend. She giggles against Nico’s lips. She’s still smiling when Nico pulls back.

“How much time do you think we have left until they come looking?” Just as Nico speaks, a rush of footsteps comes from the bedroom.

“Not much.” Karolina laughs as Nico grumbles, letting go of Nico’s waist and taking her hand to pull her back into the mansion.

“There you guys are.” Molly says, entering the room from the hallway as Karolina closes the balcony door. “I thought we were going to have to send out a search party. Karo, we found you a room.”

Karolina allowed Molly to pull her out of the room, shooting Nico a smile over her shoulder as she walked out. Nico rolled her eyes and followed them, curious to see the room they others had picked for her girlfriend. Wow. Girlfriend. That was going to take some getting used too. The room Molly lead them too was on the opposite end of the hall, closer to the room Lena had chosen. It was across from Gert, who had the room on the right side of the hall, with Molly next to her on the right and an empty room to the left. Chase was next to Karolina, across from Molly, with Alex on the other side of him. On Karolina’s other side was an empty room, and then the one Lena had said was hers.

“Wow, this room is like, the exact opposite of Nico’s.” Karolina commented as she walked in. The walls were painted a light blue, white trim, the bedding in shades of white and light grey instead of dark. The furniture had the look of purposely distressed wood, with white paint artfully chipping away to reveal the grey wood beneath it. It was the direct opposite of Nico’s room, sans the balcony. “Does anyone else have a balcony?”

“Gert and I both do, I think they’re only on the right side of the building.” Molly explained with a shrug, pulling back the white curtains to show Karolina the view of what used to be the garden lining the driveway this room offered. “Do you like it?”

“It’s great, Molls.” Karolina assured the girl, smiling and returning the hug Molly gave her. Molly left the room a moment later when Gert called for her. Karolina turned to see Nico surveying the room and smiled at her. “I guess opposites really do attract, huh?”

“I guess so,” Nico laughed slightly, meeting Karolina at the end of the bed. “We should probably get the others and head back downstairs.” Nico’s eyes stay on Karolina’s lips as she speaks.

“You’re probably right.” Karolina leans in and kisses Nico’s forehead before scooting past her to the door. Nico is struck for a second, wondering how Karolina kissing her forehead can leave her dumbfounded. “Nico?”

“Coming.” Nico snaps herself out of it. “Right behind you, K.” She takes Karolina’s hand when she’s close enough and they gather the rest of the group. Nico smiles slyly when Gert shoots her a knowing smirk as they head down the stairs.

The six teenagers spent a few minutes wandering around the first floor of the mansion before they stumbled upon the kitchen and the four adults therein. Lena offered the teens warm smiles as the filtered into the room, even as conversation between Kara, Maggie, and Alex faded to a stop.

“Everyone pick a room?” Lena inquired, receiving nods from the assembled group.

“We left the rooms closest to yours open,” Nico told her, “in case anyone else is staying here.”

“I guess one of those will be mine then.”

“Your staying here too?” Molly asked Kara, clearly excited.

“I am.” Kara confirmed. “If that’s alright with all of you?”

“Are you going to train us?” Karolina asked, shaking her bracelet slightly.

“I’d like to, both of you.” Kara smiled at Molly. “We can work on your abilities without you hurting anyone.”

“But that’s only if you want to,” Lena interjected. Molly agreed immediately, with Karolina adding her agreement after a moment of hesitation. “But there’s somethings we need to get settled before we start any sort of training.”

“What’s that?” Gert asked, sounding nervous.

“It’s nothing bad,” Kara was quick to reassure them. “First off, we need to get you guys some clean clothes.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice.”

“And we still need to stock up on food, and anything else you guys need.” Kara continued, ignoring Chase’s comment for the moment.

“But we obviously can’t just take all of you to the store.” Maggie pitched in. “There’s no way you won’t be recognized if you’re all out together.”

“We also don’t want to leave all of you here alone, unprotected while we go shopping.” Alex gauged their reactions, which ranged from understanding to visibly annoyed.

“We’re not children,” Wilder spoke up, defensive. “You can leave us alone.” Based on his tone, Alex guessed the boy meant from that statement than simply leaving the six teenagers alone in the house.

“We know you’re not kids.” Kara attempted to play peacemaker. “But you are in danger.”

“We can take care of ourselves.”

“Alex, shut up.” Nico rejoined the conversation.

“Nico,”

“No, Alex. You don’t speak for all of us.” Nico’s voice was firm. “They’re right. It’s dangerous for all of us to be left alone here. What if something happens and Karolina’s lights act up again, or Molly uses her strength and passes out before we can get to her?”

“We got this far on our own.”

“We got this far through luck and you know it.” Nico held her hand up to stop Alex from adding anything else. “They’re trying to help us, Alex. They _can_ help us. Whatever issues you have with that you can deal with on your own time.”

Wilder glared at Nico, but she didn’t back down. There was a tense moment when Alex cast his gaze to the rest of his friends, each of whom seemed to be in agreement with Nico.

“Fine.”

The adults in the room steered the conversation back towards the supplies they needed to get and who would go to get them. Eventually, it was decided that Kara and Lena would stay at the mansion with Chase, Gert, Alex, Karolina, and Molly, while Nico went with Maggie and Alex to get clothes and food. Nico, without her makeup, seemed the least distinctive out of the group, and she had the added bonus of knowing almost everyone’s sizes already. The group split, the rest of the kids heading out of the kitchen to explore downstairs a little more while Karolina said good-bye to Nico and then joined the others. Alex, Maggie, and Nico left without further delay, returning a few hours later with clothes, food, and few other things the six teenagers thought they would need. Purchases were dully sorted and placed into the appropriate locations, dinner eaten, and finally the runaways retreated up the stairs for the evening.

“Are we crazy?” Kara asked Lena, once it was the two of them alone in the kitchen, washing the dishes used during the day. “For doing this?”

“No,” Lena shook her head to emphasize her response. “I mean, taking in six teenagers and a dinosaur sure sounds a little crazy but, at the end of the day, I think we’re doing the right thing.”

Kara nodded thoughtfully, waiting a full minute filled with the sound of water running from the tap before opening her mouth again. “I’m sorry.” At Lena’s silence, Kara continued. “That I didn’t tell you about me.”

Lena wants to say that it’s okay. That she understands why Kara would keep something like that from her, and that she doesn’t hold it against her, because she _doesn’t,_ and it _is okay_. But it’s also not okay, because was so sure she had finally found someone that wouldn’t lie to her, that wouldn’t withhold the truth just because it would hurt.

“I understand why you didn’t.” She says instead. The dishes are clean, and Lena throws the sponge she’d been using to wash them into the sink after turning of the water. “I won’t stop being your friend because of this, Kara.” Lena repeats the words she said to Kara two days ago, when the secret finally came out.

Kara nods, her smile small but true. They turn off the lights in the kitchen when Kara’s done drying the last cup, tossing the towel onto the counter, and make their way to the staircase. They stop at the second floor, Lena’s room to one side and Kara’s to the other. It isn’t until Kara moves to head into her own room that Lena speaks again, reaching out and grabbing Kara’s wrist to stop her from moving.

“I won’t stop being your safe place either,” her voice is softer than Kara’s ever heard before. “You don’t have to be Supergirl or Kara Danvers with me, not now, or ever. Secret or no secret, you can always be yourself with me.” Lena meets Kara’s gaze, lowering her voice further with something akin to nervousness shining in her eyes. “Just like I can always be myself with you.”

Kara feels the smile on her lips grow as Lena leans up and places a soft kiss against Kara’s cheek. “Good night.”

The shorter woman is gone before Kara can return the sentiment and she’s left at the top of the stairs, staring at Lena’s closed door with a red lipstick print on her cheek and swirl of emotion in her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading and leaving comments and kudos. You have no idea how encouraging it is to read those. I'm glad y'all decided to join me on this crazy ride and I hope I can meet all your expectations. 
> 
> Thanks for reading  
> -Ambs


	6. Settling In

Gert wouldn’t say the transition from driving aimlessly for days on end to living in an old mansion with two of the most powerful women on earth was easy. Sure, they have a semi-permanent place to sleep, a good supply of food and clothes, and they were all still together, but it wasn’t all just magically better. Gert had suffered for a full week and a half before finally telling Lena about the medication she was supposed to be on. She had initially tried to play it off, dismissing the pain in her head and her snappy attitude. It wasn’t until she snapped at Chase while they were getting ready to spar that she finally gave in. There was something about the look in Chase’s eyes when Gert went on off on him, the hurt laced with a deep understanding that had never been directed at Gert before that caught her off guard. The look in his eyes had hurt Gert more than the pounding in her mind. Lena had Gert’s prescription ready the very next morning and presented it to her with a soft smile that Gert had never seen on an adults’ face before. Lena’s eyes had been absent of any pity, or disgust, or the negative emotions Gert usually associated with adults discussing mental illness. Just a calm understanding, an unwavering acceptance. Kara’s reassuring smile had only served to comfort Gert even more. Her initial idea to at least not trust the women helping her and her friends had blown out the window in that moment, already on unstable ground anyway.

There was still a disconnect within the six friends on whether Lena and Kara, and Alex and Maggie, could be trusted. They had grown up around powerful political, religious, scientific, or just generally important people and knew firsthand how untrustworthy they could be. Gert, Molly, and Karolina were more apt to trust the older women than Alex, Chase and Nico. Gert because of their gentle grace and understanding, without any pressure directed to her or the others, Molly because they were teaching her how to do what she really wanted, use her strength to help others. Karolina, she had formed a special bond with Kara as she helped Karolina explore and understand her own powers. They spent a good hour, if not more, each night hovering above the expansive grounds of the mansion. Sometimes they tested Karolina’s speed, or how her lights affected different things, or Kara taught her some advanced flying movement. Usually, they simply moved to a place out of earshot of the others and talked. Chase and Nico had come to partially trust the adults, Kara and Lena more so than Alex and Maggie, Chase because none of the adults had mentioned anything when he flinched at sudden loud noises, or when someone raised their hand from behind him. Nico because they had helped in getting Karolina comfortable in her own skin, now that she had no idea who or what she really was.

Alex seemed to not trust anyone these days, especially Kara. All five of the other Runaways had asked him about it at one time or another. His answers varied from a pointed glare when Karolina asked him, the silent treatment when Nico did, or simply stating he wasn’t going to trust them just because they were helping them. They had been betrayed before, who’s to say it wouldn’t it happen again. Gert had said something about the patriarchal society fearing powerful women and Alex being a product of that, but none of the people living in the house believed it was the truth when it came to Alex.

Of course, Nico and Karolina’s beautifully blossoming relationship had done little to ease Alex’s bad mood. Karolina lit up when Nico walked into the room (literally, once) and Nico did the same. They gravitated towards one another. When Nico shifted so did Karolina, when Karolina reached for something Nico was ready and waiting to hand it to her. They shared these glances and smiles throughout the day, small secret ones that no one was meant to see. It was sickeningly cute, Gert had said more than once, but Alex did not share the same opinion. Gert could see him slowly accepting the reality of his chances with Nico, which had all but disappeared before they even left LA and were now completely gone, but he still looked heartbroken every time he saw the couple together. The tension was palpable, but lessening by the day, much to the Mansion’s residents’ relief.

Speaking of tension, Gert thought as Chase walked into the kitchen. She and Chase had been in this weird limbo since their…encounter at the dance. It was comfortable, their banter and the smiles Chase sent her when the rest of the group were occupied with something else. It was easy to smile back, to tease Chase and ruffles his hair. It was harder to ignore the flutter that rose in her stomach when she did those things, and the soft look in Chase’s eyes that made Gert feel like her heart would explode from the emotion. It was impossible to deny her feelings for him, but not so much to deny his for her.

How could Chase like a girl like her anyway? Chase was, well, _Chase._ He was tall and gorgeous, and generous, and the dimple on his right cheek was deeper than the one on the left. He wrestled with Molly and wasn’t scared to pet Old Lace. His voice was the perfect mix of soft and husky. He struggled to find the words to explain things sometimes, but he could talk for hours about engineering and computers. He was perfect, imperfections and all. And Gert, wasn’t.

“Earth to Gert.” Gert snapped out of her thoughts when she finally registered Chase’s hand waving back and forth in front of her face. It isn’t until she catches sight of his smirk that she realizes Chase had been speaking to her, probably since he walked in.

“Sorry, what were you saying?”

“Are you okay?” Chase asks instead of answering her question. “You were really spaced out.”

“I’m fine,” Gert does her best to sound annoyed even though she isn’t annoyed in the slightest. “Just thinking about the whole Nico/Karolina/Alex situation.” It’s only part of the truth but Chase takes it a face value.

“Oh right,” Chase sounds disappointed for a reason Gert doesn’t want to think about. “Personally, I think Wilder should get over it.”

“He cares for Nico, a lot.”

“So? Liking someone isn’t an excuse to be a jackass.” Chase opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of water and a cheese stick. “Especially when Nico’s made it clear she doesn’t feel the same way.” Chase takes a bit out of his snack and continues speaking before Gert can interject. “Besides, if he really cares about Nico, he’d be happy that she’s happy, no matter how much it hurts him.”

“Okay, first of all, gross,” Gert makes a face when Chase opens his mouth enough for her to see the remnants of cheese on his tongue. “Second, that’s surprisingly insightful of you, Chase.”

“I can be deep when I want to be.” Chase schools his face into an innocent expression but Gert can see the mischief in his eyes and feels her own cheeks warm at his words, remembering _exactly_ how deep he could get.

“Can’t you guys keep it in your pants, there are children present?” Nico says as she walks into the kitchen with Molly and Karolina, focusing on the smirk on Chase’s lips and the blush on Gert’s cheeks.

“You’re one to talk, Minoru.” Nico maturely sticks her tongue out at him in response. Chase returns the gesture and tosses the bottle of water Karolina requests to her as the blonde settles on the stool in front of Nico, the shorter girl claimed a seat on the counter top of the breakfast bar. Gert moves to the table to sit with her sister while Chase rounds the island to sit on the stool next to Karolina and Nico.

“You guys act like I don’t know what sex is.” Molly grumbled under her breath as she and Gert sat down, but not so low that she wasn’t heard by Gert.

“What?” Gert turns to her sister. “Who ruined your innocence?”

“Um, the internet? Mainstream television? The bedroom eyes that you and Chase make at each other?” Molly shrugs. “Take your pick, they’re all pretty good answers.”

“We do not make bedroom eyes!” Gert insists while the rest of the group cracks up. “At least not as bad as Karolina and Nico.”

“Hey!” Karolina protests, but she’s laughing too. It feels good to just joke around together. It reminds her of when they were kids. Before Molly’s parents died, before Amy. When they would sit in the Wilder’s guest house during PRIDE meetings and play games and laugh and tease each other until their parents came to get them. “We all know the true culprits here are Kara and Lena.”

“Oh my god, you see it too?” Chase and Molly said at the same time, prompting them to look at one another in surprise before speaking at the same time again. “ _You_ noticed that?”

“It’s kind of hard not to notice that.” Chase shrugged, receiving baffled stares from the four girls in the room, and Alex, Chase had belatedly realized, who must have slipped into the room sometime after the girls had. “It is pretty obvious.”

“It must be, if you noticed.” Karolina teases, and Chase lightly punches her arm in response. The motion jostles Nico - whose arms are wrapped around Karolina’s shoulders - and she glowers at him for a second before it turns to a smile when Karolina laces their fingers together over her chest.

“I may be a dude, but I’m not oblivious.” Chase defends himself, crossing his arms over his chest. “I noticed Karolina and Nico had a something between them before any of you did.”

“You did?” Karolina seems surprised by his words, as does Alex who had silently taken a seat at the table across from Gert and Molly. They’d turned their chairs to face the three at the breakfast bar, so they don’t see the frown on his face.

“Nico and I had a little chat about it, before we went to save you Karolina.”

“I forgot about that.” Nico looks over at Chase suddenly, a glint in her eyes that Chase isn’t sure he likes. “But he’s right, kind of.”

“How is he kind of right?” Karolina asked her girlfriend, tilting her head back to see her eyes.

“Well, it wasn’t so much a conversation about us, but more that we both smelled like hookup after we all met up in the hall.” Nico shrugged. “So, yeah, I guess he figured it out about us then.”

“Wait, why did Chase smell like hookup too?” Alex asked, finally joining the conversation. If anyone heard the hurt in his voice, they didn’t comment on it.

“Can we stop talking about hookups around the child, please?” Gert butted in, hoping she had enough control of her blushing cheeks to keep from embarrassing herself.

“I’m only three years younger than all of you.” Molly pouted.

“Wait, no Gert picked up on it first.” Karolina points out. “She confronted me at that gala we had to go too with our parents, when I sent Chase to get drinks for us.”

“You were into me then?”

“Back to Kara and Lena,” Gert turned back to Chase, ignoring the exchange between Karolina and Nico and the resigned expression on Alex’s face, “there’s definitely something, there right?”

“Totally,” Chase agreed, “have you been in a room with just the two of them? They can just be watching dishes and I’ll feel like interrupted some intimate moment.”

“It’s disgustingly sappy.”

“What’s disgustingly sappy?” All six teenagers turned their heads as a new voice joined the fray, Lena walking into the kitchen dressed like she had just walked off the corporate runway with a tablet in her hands.

“Karo and Nico’s heart eyes.” Gert said, a little too quickly, with Chase and Molly nodding in agreement and the couple in question looking appropriately embarrassed. Alex remained silent.

“Ah, yes,” Lena offered the young couple a smile, “you two do an awful lot of staring at one another these days, don’t you?”

“We do not!” Nico protested half-heartedly, knowing Lena was right. She didn’t mean to stare at Karolina all the time, honestly, she didn’t. But then she noticed Karolina looking at something with that little crinkle on her forehead, totally focused, or laughing as Molly and Old Lace chased one another around the backyard or trading teasing jabs with Gert and Chase and Nico couldn’t help but stare. Don’t even get her started on watching Karolina work out on the various machines Lena had bought and placed in the backyard for them to train with. “What’s for dinner?”

“Potstickers.” Lena says, setting her tablet down on the counter top. The kids had been pleasantly surprised to learn that Lena was a phenomenal cook, and equally amused when Kara stated without any hesitance that she was not.  “Kara claims she’s dying from potsticker withdrawals, and I found a pretty good recipe for them online.”

“What is a potsticker?” Alex asked, nose crinkled and eyes looking anywhere except where Nico and Karolina sat together.

“A gift from the gods.” Kara answers his question, entering the kitchen with windswept hair and her super suit still on. The Runaways can’t help but stare, still a little awestruck whenever they see Kara in her full Supergirl regalia.

“I personally prefer a good batch of kale,” Lena says, mostly to watch Kara’s animated reaction. Just as expected Kara looks visibly repulsed, her shoulders shuddering and she shakes her head no fiercely.

“Never again will I be persuaded to eat that monstrosity.” Kara shudders again for added affect.

“Kara, you had it once.” Lena reminds her with an affectionate roll of her eyes.

“That was enough.”

The Runaways share a collective glance, Molly, Chase, and Karolina seeming to say ‘what did I tell you’ at Kara and Lena’s interaction, but managed to keep in any laughter.

“Do you need any help?” Karolina asked Lena as Kara left the kitchen to change out of her suit. Lena pulled out a cutting board, knife, and placed various vegetables on the counter.

“Sure, I need to get all of this diced.”

Karolina disentangled herself from her girlfriend, placing a kiss on Nico’s cheek and then rounding the island to start cutting the vegetables. Nico hopped off the counter just as Kara swept back into the room, dressed in the clothes she had worn to work that morning. Chase and Nico moved to the table to sit with Molly, Gert, and Alex while Kara went to help Lena and Karolina cook. It was a familiar scene. As familiar as it could be after only two weeks, anyway. Karolina liked to help whoever was cooking, Nico didn’t know if it was the product of Karolina growing up believing in helping others without a second thought or Karolina’s genuine good nature. She suspected it was a blend of both. The others were content to sit at the table and chat amongst themselves, occasionally joined by Kara or Lena when the other was cooking or monitoring the food in Kara’s case. Once the food was ready, they worked by committee to set the table. Nico appreciated the routine of it all.

“Any news?” Alex asks Kara when she turns from Lena to the kids. Kara shakes her head.

“Nothing yet.”

Kara had told the kids that their parents were being watched for suspicious activity, but it could take a little while to find anything or catch them doing something. As Karolina pointed out when Kara first told them, their parents had been doing this for at least seventeen years, without anyone suspecting anything. They knew to be careful.

“Listen, we know you guys are getting anxious about the radio silence. We promise we are doing everything we can.” Lena spoke from where she was placing the potstickers in a pan to be placed in the oven. “These things take time, more than two weeks.”

“We know,” Nico spoke to the group. She had assumed the role of the leader after Alex proved incompetent, he couldn’t even convince the others to actually try when they were training, but she was beginning to blossom in her new role. Karolina, done with her part of the meal prep, made her way to the table and took the open seat on Nico’s right. “Actually, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about. Something that we can use against PRIDE.”

“What’s that?” Kara asked curiously, noting the confused glances the other teenagers sent their leader.

“The Staff of One.”

The Runaways shared surprised and concerned looks over the table. Kara and Lena moved over to the group.

“The Staff that is under your mother’s control?” Kara asked, mainly for clarification purposes. She knew perfectly well what the Staff was, in theory at least. Nico had given them all the information she could about the strange device, but it was difficult to explain without having the Staff in hand.

“That’s the one,” Nico’s expression remained serious, “my mother’s not the only one who can use it. If I can get it away from her, PRIDE will lose a huge advantage over us. I can train with it, like Karo and Molly are training with their powers. We can use it to stop them.”

“Where is the Staff?”

“At their house, in LA.” Nico answered Lena’s question without any hesitance. “We’d have to break in and get it out of her office.”

“So, you want to break into one of the most advanced AI protected homes in the world and steal a magic staff.” Karolina did not sound impressed by Nico’s idea in the slightest. “Anything else?”

“We might be able to get some info of PRIDE if we can hack Tina’s computer while we’re there.” Nico shrugged slightly, as if the whole idea was an everyday occurrence.

“Nico, we can’t do that.” Alex spoke up and Nico bristled. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t go back to LA until we’re ready to face PRIDE and we both know we’re not there yet.”

“I didn’t say we would all go back, Alex.”

“You think we’d let you do this alone? No way. Not a chance in hell.”

“I don’t recall asking for your permission, Alex.” Nico spat back at him, her eyes hard and shoulders tense. “Like it or not, we need to get the Staff away from PRIDE and I’m the only one who can control it.”

“Alright,” Kara’s powerful voice cut in before Alex could carry the argument any further. “Nico, you seem to have done a lot of thinking about this. What’s your plan?”

“Three of us go to LA. Myself, to get the Staff, Karolina to disable Wizzy so we can get in, and Alex to hack the system and get info on PRIDE.”

“How would I disable Wizzy?” Karolina asked before Kara could.

“Your powers. Remember the dig site?” Nico waited until Karolina nodded to continue. “That blast knocked out all the electronics around the whole block, like a giant EMP. You’ve been practicing now, you have better control over your beams. If you focus them on Wizzy’s main breakers you should be able to overload the system, enough for us to get in and get out.”

“That’s a big risk to take, Nico.” Karolina pointed out. “What do we do if it doesn’t work?”

“We’ll test it before we leave. I know we can do this, Karolina. We _need_ to do this.” Nico’s hand gripped Karolina’s thigh beneath the table, a warm, comforting presence. Their eyes met, a silent conversation passing between them. Alex looked away, the tenderness in their eyes too much for him to bear just yet.

“Okay,” Karolina conceded right as the timer went off on the over, signaling that the potstickers were done cooking. Kara pulled them out, no oven mitts needed, and helped Lena place them on the large serving dish. “But we can’t rush into this. We need to be absolutely sure this will work.”

“Agreed.” Alex spoke up but still averted his eyes. As a group, the Runaways turned to Kara and Lena who seemed to be having a silent conversation of their own over the large platter of potstickers in Kara’s hands.

“What do you think?” Nico asked after the silence stretched on long enough for Lena and Kara to take their seats at the table.  The pair exchanged one more glance before nodding in unison.

“How can we help?”

 

Cleaning up after dinner is a joint effort that evening, Kara washing the dishes, Chase drying them and then handing them over to Nico, Karolina or Gert to be put away. Molly hops up onto the counter next to Kara and starts up a conversation about super strength. Chase and Alex banter when the latter brings his plate to the sink for Kara to wash, Lena isn’t sure what the topic is, but she vaguely recognizes the name of some character or another, from a video game she’s never played herself and can’t remember the title of. Lena herself remains at the table, having done most of the cooking, and enjoys the last few sips of her wine while the others clean up. She tries to time it so that she finished her drink just before Kara reaches for the last dish, but she has yet to be successful on that front. That evening, she placed her glass on the counter a few moments after Kara finished rinsing the last plate, but before she reached to turned to water off. Lena considered it a small victory. 

They separated for a little bit soon after, not quite comfortable enough to spend too much time lingering in the kitchen together, but the adults wanting the kids to have a chance to relax together before Kara and Karolina went for their flight. Kara and Lena remained for a while after, chatting about nothing the way they used too, before the Daxamite invasion when all Lena was worried about was rebuilding her company and family name and trying to get Kara to eat healthier, so she wouldn’t have a heart attack at thirty. She had missed this easy comradery with Kara. After the invasion, Kara had all but disappeared from Lena’s life, leaving text messages unanswered and never picking up the phone when Lena called. Looking back, Lena knows Kara had been out patrolling the streets as Supergirl during all that time, but that did little to comfort her or ease her guilt. If she could have found a way to defeat the Daxamites without sending Kara’s boyfriend off the planet. Not that she particularly liked Mon-El, she spent little time with him, but he always seemed like a pompous, spoiled brat whenever they were together, but Kara cared for him and Lena cared for Kara.

“Lena?” Kara questioned for the third time, her friend still staring blankly ahead without seeing Kara. “Hey, Lena,” Kara reached out, placing her hand on Lena’s arm and squeezing it gently.

“Sorry, what were you saying?” Lena asks as she came back to herself, her eyes focusing on Kara’s.

“Are you okay? You were a million miles away just now.”

“Oh I’m fine,” Lena tries to wave off Kara’s concerns.

“Lena.” There’s something about the way Kara says her name. Softly, like Lena deserved all the awe and amazement in the world, gently, like her name alone was the most precious word in the world. She made Lena feel wanted, accepted, like she could pour her heart out to Kara without judgement or fear.

“I was just thinking about how much I missed you these past couple months.” Lena speaks without really meaning too, Kara’s earnest expression and soft eyes drawing the truth from her lips. “After the invasion I didn’t see much of you. Not that I blame you, after what happened.”

“What do you mean?” Kara seemed surprised at Lena’s words.

“After what I did.”

“Lena, you didn’t do anything.” Kara insists, the infamous crinkle forming between her eyebrows as they scrunch together in confusion.

“I sent the Daxamite’s away, I sent Mon-El away.” Lena speaks softly, her voice filled with guilt and shoulders slumping after her admission.

“Oh, Lena,” Kara says and uses the hand she still has on Lena’s arm to pull her into a hug, “that wasn’t your fault. It was an impossible situation, we couldn’t have beat them without sending Mon-El away.”

“I should have found another way,” Lena’s words are slightly muffled against Kara’s shoulder, but Kara can hear the emotion in them, the guilt, the blame, the self-doubt.

“Lena,” Kara pulled back, so she could look Lena in the eyes, using one finger to lift Lena’s chin when the CEO refused to meet her gaze, “It wasn’t your fault. I don’t blame you for anything that happened that day.”

“Promise?”

There’s a ghost of a smile across Kara’s lips as she replied, “promise.”

Lena smiles at her, relieved, but concerned at the same time. Kara didn’t blame her, Lena, for anything that happened that day. Did she blame herself? She’s about to question Kara when she notices blue eyes flicker downwards. Lena licks her lips involuntarily, watching Kara’s eyes follow the movement of her tongue. Lena takes a deep breath, Kara’s eyes flickering back up to look into Lena’s own. Slowly, Lena starts to lean in, Kara following.

“Chase! Give it back!”

The two women jump apart at the sound of Molly’s voice as she and the boy running from her come crashing back into the kitchen. They seem to not notice the tension between Kara and Lena, too busy arguing over the pink ball of yarn in Chase’s hand, Molly’s cat hat that he had apparently stolen from her.

Kara and Lena stare at one another for a moment, the air between them heavy with the almost-kiss they shared, before another yell from Molly breaks the spell over them. Kara chases the two teenagers out of the kitchen, leaving Lena with a pounding heart, a spinning head, and the ghost of Kara’s breath against her lips.

 

“You’re nervous,” Kara states, landing gently on the roof of the Mansion with Karolina at her side, “your lights keep getting brighter and then dimming. Everything okay?”

Karolina considers lying for a second, but Kara’s earnest face steals the idea from her. She doesn’t like lying in general, never has, but she understands some situations called for a little while lie now and again. This wasn’t one of those situations.

“Nico’s plan,”

“You don’t think it will work?”

“No,” Karolina shook her head, “I know it will work. But there’s so many things that could go wrong. What if her parents are home? Or all of PRIDE is there for some meeting? Or Jonah?” Karolina rubbed her hands on her shorts anxiously. “I’m not ready to face all of them, not yet.” She’s not even close to ready. She was just starting to come to terms with her parents being in a murderous cult when they ran away, pair that with her now unknown origins, and the true identity of her father and Karolina’s head was still spinning. Not to mention Frank, who Karolina had thought, hoped, was a good guy, who sided with Jonah in the end. It hurt her heart and her head.

“You don’t have to go.” Kara reminded her, gesturing for the girl to take a seat on the roof with her. Karolina did so, a heavy sigh leaving her lungs as she basically collapsed next to Kara.

“Yes, I do. There’s no way I’m letting Nico go alone.” Karolina had finally been allowed access to all the deep, dark, parts of herself that Nico tried to hide. They were in this together, in every way.

“Alex is going with her.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Karolina,” Kara started, placing a reassuring hand on the younger girls shoulder and smiling internally when she didn’t flinch away, “it’s okay to be afraid. You’ve been through so much, much more than anyone your age should have to go through. You’re allowed to feel however you want to feel.”

“No one else is scared.” There, was the root of the issue. Karolina feeling like the others had already dealt with everything that happened, had moved from fear to determination and she just couldn’t.

“How do you know?” Kara asked softly. “Have you talked about it with them?”

Karolina shook her head in response. She thought about bringing it up to Nico at night, when they both crawled into bed together in the room Nico had originally claimed for herself. But Nico seemed so at ease then, when it was just the two of them without the others breathing down their necks so Karolina kept silent.

“Then how do you know they aren’t scared, too?”

“They don’t act like it.”

“Neither do you.” Kara continued when Karolina shot her a disbelieving look. “You don’t. You may feel afraid, but you never look anything but determined, protective even.” Kara griped Karolina’s shoulders, forcing the girl to look at her. “Karolina, you may not believe me, but I can guarantee Nico, Molly, Gert, Chase, and Alex are just as scared as you are, but are pretending not to be for everyone else.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Karolina admitted, and Kara couldn’t resist the urge to pull her into a hug. She was surprised, pleasantly, when Karolina hugged her back just as tightly.

“Talk to them,” Kara advised as they pulled apart, “start with Nico. Get everything out into the open, and then deal with it together.”

“Thanks, Kara.” Karolina said as Kara climbed to her feet, intending to let Karolina be alone with her thoughts for a little while. “For everything.”

“Anytime, Rainbow.” Karolina rolled her eyes at the nickname, given to her by Maggie when they started training, smiling slightly as Kara rose from the roof, hovered for a moment and then disappeared back into the Mansion.

Karolina sat outside for another ten minutes, watching the stars and thinking about what Kara had said, before heading to the room she shared with Nico. Nico sat on a chair on the balcony, a book propped up on her knees, her hair still wet from her shower. It was an increasingly familiar sight to Karolina, one that never failed to make her smile.

“Hey,” she greeted as her feet touched down on the balcony. Nico smiled at her, waiting patiently while Karolina powered down. She had been able to turn her lights on and off without her bracelet for a few days now, and Nico was super proud of her for developing her powers.

“Have fun up there?”

“Would’ve been more fun if you were there with me,” Karolina shot Nico a dazzling smile as she moved closer, ducking down to steal a kiss before heading into their room and the en suite bathroom for a quick shower. She emerged fifteen minutes later to find Nico in the same position as before and made her way out to the balcony to join her.

“You must really like that book.” Karolina commented after walking up to Nico, tapping her shoulder and Nico scooting forward in the chair so Karolina could climb in behind her. They settled together, Nico sitting between Karolina’s legs and leaning back against her chest with Karolina’s arms wrapped around her waist.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess so.” Nico shrugged, leaning further into Karolina.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Karolina punctuated her question with a kiss to Nico’s shoulder.

“Just thinking, about the mission.” Nico sighed, closing her book and turning to nuzzle further into Karolina. “Is it bad that I’m scared to go back there?”

“Of course not,” Karolina shook her head. “I am, too.” Of course Supergirl was right.

“It’s just, I haven’t had the best relationship with my parents, and it only got worse after Amy…” Karolina squeezed Nico gently around the waist in comfort, “but I always thought they were at least _decent_ people. That they were actually trying to help save the world.”

“But now you know that isn’t true.”

“I just – I can’t, they’re our parents, Karolina. How can they be such monsters?” Nico sat up and turned in Karolina’s embrace, so they were sitting face-to-face. “If they’re monsters, what does that make us?”

“We’re not them, Nico.” Karolina brushed a stray hair behind Nico’s ear as she continued, “our parents are terrible, murderous people, but we’re not. Okay? We can fix the world that they broke.”

“How?” Nico hated how unsure her voice sounded, but the tender glow to Karolina’s eyes showed no pity or sympathy or any hint of a negative emotion. Nothing but support and the beginnings of feelings Nico was scared to admit she had.

“I don’t know.” Karolina offered Nico a small smile, “but I do know we’ll do it together.”

Karolina leaned in and Nico met her halfway. It was the softest kiss they had shared thus far, no teeth or tongue, no wandering hands and panting breaths. A simple meeting of lips that was meant to convey nothing but affection and comfort. They separated, and Nico laid her head on Karolina’s shoulder to bask in the comfort she provided.

They returned to the bedroom soon after and climbed into the bed they shared in peaceful silence. They were still scared, terrified, but they had each other. That was enough

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back everyone! I know I normally post on Sundays, but I wanted to go ahead and get this one out there as a thank you for waiting for me to come back from hiatus. Starting Sunday I'll be back to my regular posting schedule as long as I can keep pumping out chapters the way I have been. 
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with this story. I'm blown away by the support I've gotten. To show my appreciation, I'll be personally responding to every comment left on this chapter. And I'm always open to chatting over on Tumblr (@oimdil13)
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> -Ambs


	7. Training Begins

The various workout machines Lena had purchased were assembled in a rough half-circle, with the weights place between the bench and squat racks. The middle of the circle was left bare for now but would soon hold the sparring mats that had finally arrived. Maggie and Alex had wanted to make sure the kids were serious about training before they taught them how to properly defend themselves, especially the ones who didn’t have powers, and to keep the kids from hurting themselves by sparring without any training. Nearly two solid weeks of training every day proved their intentions, and self-defense training would begin as soon as the two women arrived.

“It looks like we’re training for American Ninja Warrior or something,” Chase remarks as he surveys the equipment with a critical eye. As the teenager most familiar with the equipment, and working out in general, Alex and Maggie had allowed him look over the set up and let them know if anything needed to be corrected or reassembled after the machines had been broken in. “All we need now is a warped wall.”

“A what?” Gert asked from where she sat on the bench used for the bench press.

“A warped wall. It’s a tall wall with a curve at the top. You have to get a running start, grab the top of the wall, and haul yourself over.” Chase explained.

“Sounds like too much work.”

“I’ve never done it, but I always thought it would be pretty fun.”

“You would.” Gert rolls her eyes, but she smiles when Chase comes over and sits next to her on the bench.

“Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” He breaks the easy silence that had fallen over them, twisting his hands together.

“What, working out?”

“No,” this time it’s Chase who rolls his eyes before turning serious again, “Going against our parents. Is fighting them the right thing?”

“I don’t know.” Gert answers, leaning her head on Chase’s shoulder. It’s a question she’s been pondering for the past two weeks as they started to really work on building strength and endurance before starting self-defense training. “I know what they are doing is wrong, even if they don’t think so.”

“But maybe they do, know it’s wrong, I mean,” Chase corrects himself, shaking his head slightly. “Well, all of them but my dad. He’s always been screwed up.”

“Chase,” Gert trails off, unsure what to say and opting to just take Chase’s hand in her own and squeeze it slightly. Chase stares at the joined hands for a second, a look in his eyes that Gert can’t decipher but before she can question him the other Runaways join them.

“How’d the planning session go?” Gert asked curiously as Molly, Alex, Karolina and Nico claimed seats around her and Chase. Molly plops on the ground, leaning against Gert’s legs. Alex, Nico and Karolina also sit on the ground, Nico opting to sit on Karolina’s lap rather than the grass. Karolina accepts her happily, shooting the smallest of glances at Alex as Nico makes herself comfortable, slinging an arm around Karolina and tucking her head in the crook between her neck and shoulder.

Chase catches Karolina’s eye after she looks away from Alex, who seemed unaffected by Nico’s seat choice, and offers her a small smile. Karolina smiles back, her eyes traveling the line of Chase’s arm to his hand, still joined with Gert’s. Chase can see the surprise in Karolina’s eyes and fights off the flush threating to color his cheeks.

“We’re almost ready, just need to test Karolina’s powers and figure out how we are going to get down to LA and back.” Alex answered for himself, Nico, and Karolina. The three of them had been with Lena, Kara, and Alex in Lena’s home office, planning how they would get to LA and steal the Staff of One from Tina.

“We’ll do that after our sparring lesson. If all goes well, we’ll be headed back to LA Thursday.” Karolina rubbed Nico’s back as she spoke after feeling her girlfriend tense in her arms. Nico relaxed back into her a few moments later. The two of them had spent several hours the past few nights talking about how they felt about returning to LA, especially since there was a large chance Nico would have to face her parents.

“I can’t believe Supergirl is going to teach us to fight!” Even after almost a month of living with her, Molly still feels like she’s dreaming every time she sees Kara land in the yard, red cape billowing behind her. Her enthusiasm provides a nice distraction for Nico and Karolina.

“Actually, Supergirl’s sister is doing the training,” Gert reminds her sister who grumbles in response.

“Still! An actual trained super-spy!”  

“I’m just glad she’s been teaching you how to fly,” Chase adds, gesturing at Karolina. 

“Me too,” Karolina responds with a slight grimace, “it’s way less scary than how we found out.”

“What happened?” Alex asked, his voice filled with genuine curiosity. Karolina can feel Nico’s shoulders shift as she moves in her lap.

“We found out on accident, Chase and I, at the last PRIDE party we went too. I had a bit too much to drink,” Karolina starts off, “Chase and I were up on the roof with a bottle of cheap vodka, talking for bit. Then, Chase had kissed me, and I had backed away, a little too far as when I took another step, I sort of, um, fell over the edge.” Nico’s eyes widen as her grip on Karolina’s waist tightens, lifting her head to look at her girlfriend’s face. “Chase grabbed for me and managed to knock my bracelet off. Next thing I know, I’m lit up like a rainbow and hovering above the roof.”

“Giving me a fucking heart attack in the process.”

“Chase, language.”

“I should really get this clasp fixed, shouldn’t I?” Karolina lifts the arm not wrapped around Nico, her silver bracelet catching the light of the setting sun.

“You fell off a roof?” Nico asks, struck by the casual way Karolina had told the story. As if it was fond memory instead of really bad situation that could have ended with Karolina bloody and broken on the pavement.

“A little?” Karolina shrugged. “It was an accident, I’m fine, and it was kind of a rush, once I got my bearings.”

“A rush? Karo, you fell off a building!” Nico’s eyes are wide with worry, moving quickly as they look over Karolina’s face, like the event had just happened. “How have I not heard this story before?”

“Nico, I’m fine,” the arm Karolina has around Nico tightens, “it was weeks ago, I wasn’t hurt. Relax, baby.” Her words drop to a whisper, only for Nico to hear and she gently kisses her. Chase watches Alex for any kind of negative reaction but all he does is release a resigned sigh paired with a small, understanding smile. Nico steals another soft kiss before her eyes narrow and her gaze turns to Chase.

“You kissed my girlfriend?” Her tone is deadly. Chase visibly gulps, shrinking in on himself and trying to hide behind Gert.

“It was before you got together,” Chase defends himself, “It was one kiss, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Chase holds his hands up, slightly thankful Nico doesn’t have her staff, as Nico glares at him.

“Better not.” Gert mumbles before she can stop herself and the group turns as one to look at her. “What? I said that on behalf of Karolina and Nico.” Gert offers an explanation no one asked for, ignoring the way they continue to stare and swiftly changing the conversation topic back to their upcoming training.

 Kara, Lena, Maggie and Alex watch the group from the door that connects the backyard to the entrance hall.

“Are they always like that?” Maggie asks, gesturing to Nico and Karolina all cuddled up together.

“Pretty much,” Kara answered, “from what I can tell, Karolina and Nico recently became a thing, like as in around the time we moved in here, but before that there was something between Nico and Alex.”

“Whatever that was, ended pretty badly, and now those two just got the point that they can be in the same room for longer than a few minutes before insults start flying and the others have to step in.” Lena interjects.

“There were a few tense encounters when they first got here, but Alex seems to be coming to terms with it. Or, at least trying to let it go.”

“I’m sure Karolina and Lena sharing a bedroom didn’t help the process,” Lena continues, “especially since its one pretty far down the hall from the others.”

“That was a rough morning.” Kara remarks, thinking back to that day, a few weeks ago. Alex had been sulking at the table, looking positively murderous when Karolina and Nico walked into the kitchen together. Alex had called them out for sneaking around, only to find that there weren’t sneaking around at all. Nico and Karolina had been sharing a room since half-way through the first night at the Mansion, when Nico had a nightmare and could only fall back asleep once Karolina was with her. No one had mentioned the living arrangements since it was a non-issue for them. Alex seemed equally hurt by Nico’s choice and angry about being left out of the loop.

“Gotta love teenage emotions,” Maggie chuckled slightly. “Not that I can blame them. Growing up in general is hard. Growing up and learning your parents are murders, and then having to run away? I can only imagine how they must feel. Adding on regular teenage issues like dating must seem like the hardest thing in the world.”

Alex wraps her arm around her fiancée, pulling her close to her own body. Maggie leans into her gratefully, thinking about the circumstances that led to her leaving her own parents. At least Maggie had a support system when she left, she didn’t run away either, she just moved in with the only family she had that she trusted. These kids didn’t have that advantage.

“They’ll work it out.” Alex remarks, watching as the group in the yard continues to converse. Karolina and Nico are still cuddled together, even from their limited vantage point Alex can see Nico’s fingers absently twisting in the loose strands of Karolina’s hair, but the boy beside them seems to be ignoring it. “For now, we need to get to work. Time to help these kids protect themselves.”

“Up and at ‘em Runaways, we’ve got work to do!” Maggie called as the four adults stepped fully into the backyard. The six teenagers climbed to their feet quickly, Molly obviously the most excited for their sparring lessons finally starting.

“Once again, everything we show you is for self-defense only.” Alex reminded them as she approached the group. It was conversation that had been repeated at least three times in the past week. “We know you guys are up against a lot, and you feel like it’s your responsibility to handle it all. We want to help however we can.” Alex paused to survey the determined looks the teenagers supported. They were so strong, and so scared at the same time. “We’ll show you guys whatever we can while we have the chance, starting with a little demonstration.”

Her speech finished, Alex turned to the mats laid out for the sparring and waited for her partner to join her. Surprising all but Maggie and Alex, Nico let go of Karolina’s hand and stepped onto the mat with Alex after shredding her shoes.

“Nico?” Karolina questioned with raised eyebrows. Nico winked in response and positioned herself in a loose fighting stance. “What? Oh!” Only Alex could see Nico’s smirk, a long-forgotten memory having surface in Karolina’s mind.

“What? What’s going on?” Chase asked for the assembled group. Karolina shook her head rather than offer a verbal answer, gesturing to Nico and Alex. The pair circled one another in the rough circular shape of the mats.

They still as one, a tense beat of silence passing. Kara nearly bounced in place from her spot beside Lena, her anticipation exciting her. Without realizing it, her and Lena’s hands linked together.

Nico gave the smallest nod. The fight was on.

Alex launched her attack, Nico dodging at the last possible second before retaliating with a sharp kick aimed at Alex’s chest. Alex dodges nimbly and their deadly dance has begun. Karolina watches completely enthralled by Nico’s graceful movements around the mat. Every strike is calculated, every movement sure and steady. For every blow she takes, Nico dishes out two. It’s a breathtaking display that has Karolina feeling unnaturally warm. She’s sure if she hadn’t been wearing her bracelet, she’d be glowing brighter than the sun.

The match ended with a panting Nico landing hard on her back after Alex finally managed to get the upper hand. It was only Alex’s extra years of constant use that had given her the advantage. Nico was simply out of practice.

“You almost had you me,” Alex comments as she helps Nico to her feet, “nicely done, Black Belt.”

“Not so bad yourself, Doc,” Nico offered the woman a smile, the most genuine Alex had seen directed at one of the adults so far. They stepped off the mat together, but further conversation was halted by the sudden appearance of Karolina.

“What did you thi-“ Nico’s question is cut off with a squeak as Karolina sweeps her off her feet. Nico’s legs wrap around Karolina’s waist automatically and she really hopes no one hears the noise that came from the back of her throat when Karolina kisses her, hard. It feels a little different than normal, Nico’s not used to being the one who has to bend down when they kiss but she rather enjoys it.

“That was incredible!” Karolina cheers when they separate. She’s still holding Nico’s weight against her, one hand resting across the small of her back and the other buried in Nico’s hair to rest against her neck. Nico’s sweaty body is pressed against her chest, her face flushed, and chest heaving. Karolina has the sudden desire to see if the flush flows through the skin she can’t see.

“Ahem,” Chase clears his throat loudly, “ladies, there are children present. Well, a child.” Molly punches him in the arm.

Karolina blushes crimson and sets Nico back on her feet. She’s grateful she decided to keep her bracelet until she has a better handle on keeping her lights under control, otherwise she’d be glowing so bright she might have blinded her friends. They can feel the teasing looks coming from the others but ignore them for the moment.

“So, did anyone else just spontaneously remember that Nico’s a fucking black belt?” Wilder asks. He receives stunned nods from all of his friends bar the girl in question.

“I can’t believe you all forgot in the first place.”

“You haven’t practiced since we were fourteen,” Karolina interjects, “you stopped because Amy wanted to, but Tina wouldn’t let her unless you stopped too.”

Nico nods in response, suddenly leaning heavily into her girlfriend. Karolina wraps both arms around her and kisses the top of her head. Nico’s eyes fall closed, fighting against the memories that want to rise and the tears that will come with them. They open again when she feels another set of arms wrap around her and Karolina, Chase’s sad smile swimming into view before it’s blocked by Molly’s ever-present cat ears. She feels Gert and Alex join on the other side and suddenly has to fight off the tears for an entirely different reason.

The adults look on sadly, the unspoken question shining in their eyes, but they stay silent and let the group have their moment until Nico’s eyes open again.

“There’s room for more, you know.” If anyone seems surprised by her words, they hide it well. A rustle of bushes announces Old Lace’s presence with the group. Then, six teenagers, four adults, and a deinonychus are hugging in the backyard of the old Luthor mansion.

Nico can’t remember the last time she felt this whole.

 

 

“That was a shocking turn of events,” Lena comments as she, Kara, Maggie and Alex settle around the dining room table with a bottle of wine split between the four of them. The kids had retreated up stairs to shower and change for dinner after a very successful day of sparring, their emotional group hug included.

“No kidding,” Kara shook her head, “they trust us, enough to be vulnerable around us.”

“We can’t screw this up,” Maggie said, “every adult they know has betrayed them. We can’t be like that.” The trust they’ve established with the Runaways, while growing in strength every day, is inconsistent from kid to kid. Karolina and Gert trust them more so than the others, though Molly is close behind them. Nico, Chase, and Alex are still holding back.

“We won’t.” Alex reassures her, resting a hand on her arm. She knows better then the other two women how torn up Maggie is about this whole situation. Maggie has a soft spot for kids, especially ones in trouble. It’s part of the reason Alex was so surprised two weeks ago when she found out Maggie didn’t want to have kids. They’re still arguing about that, momentarily putting wedding plans on hold until they get it figured out. “We’ll keep doing exactly what we have been, showing them we care, helping when we can, being here.”

“What about this mission to LA?”

“I’m going with them,” Alex nods decisively, “I’ve already spoken to J’onn about it. It’s bending the rules, but as long as we classify this staff as alien tech, at least on the paperwork, it falls under the DEO’s jurisdiction. Technically the kids in the DEO”s protective custody anyway, anything involving them will be kept off the record until it’s safe for them to be out in the open again. I think Vasquez might come with us, too.”

“At least they’ll have some backup,” Kara sighed. “I know they feel like they have to do this, Nico especially, but I just have a bad feeling. PRIDE’s been far to silent to not be up to something.”

“We haven’t got them doing anything even a little out of the ordinary?”

“No, but we do have something,” Alex nodded in Lena’s direction, “we didn’t want to say anything yet because nothing is confirmed. There have been numerous sightings of all members of PRIDE at the Gibborim church, all except Leslie Dean.”

“Why is that something?”

“Leslie is the head of the church.” Maggie answered, “she took over from her father, who took over from her grandfather. Karolina was being groomed to take over next. If Leslie isn’t there, it’s because she’s being kept away.”

“I want to talk to Karolina about it,” Alex said, “see if there’s a retreat or something she could have been sent too, or if there’s something else going on.”

“But you don’t want to upset her.” Alex nodded at her sister. They all knew the kids’ parents were sensitive topics around the Mansion. No one wanted to break the fragile trust they’ve established by shaking the boat too soon. “I know why you’re hesitant, but you need to talk to her. If we keep this from them, we’re no better than their parents.”

“I know, I’ll talk to her.”

“I’m glad they’re starting to really trust us,” Lena commented after a beat of silence. “I know it’s not easy for them, especially considering who I am.”

“Lena, you’re more than a Luthor,” Kara reminded her pointedly, rubbing a hand down her arm. “They know that, and so do you.”

“I know,” Lena offered Kara a smile, “old habits and all that.”

Alex and Maggie shared a look as Kara’s hand remained on Lena’s arm far longer than necessary, a smirk passing between them.

 _‘Twenty bucks says they have no idea’_ Alex mouthed.

 _‘You’re on’_ Maggie smiled back. Terms set, they steered the conversation to lighter topics as the kids began to enter the dining room one by one. Lena and Maggie went to pick up the pizza Lena had ordered before they sat down with their wine.

“Hey, are you doing any better? Do you need a refill?” Alex quietly asked Gert once the others were sufficiently distracted with arguing over what game to play while they waited for dinner. Lena had been honest with Gert when she asked how she’d gotten the prescription. Alex had written it for her, technically filled out to Lena but that would change as soon as the kid’s names were cleared. They were still on California’s most wanted list.

“I should be okay until the end of the month,” Gert answered lowly. “And thanks, for getting that for me.”

“You don’t have to thank me.” Alex protested. “We’re here to help, however we can. Keeping you guys mentally healthy is just as important as keeping you fed and roof over your head.” For the second time that day, Alex was surprised to find herself hugging a teenager, but she didn’t hesitate to hug Gert back.

“I seriously don’t know what would have happened to us if you and Mags hadn’t found us that night.”

“I don’t know either,” Alex answers, “I’m just glad we did. Honestly, I think you guys are helping us just as much as we are helping you.”

“Really?” Gert’s surprise is echoed on Chase and Alex’s face, matched with disbelief on Nico, Karolina, and Molly’s who had picked up on Alex’s slightly louder voice.

“Absolutely.” Kara’s answer is sure in a way that leaves no room for argument. Of course, Gert argues.

“But you guys have done so much for us, and we haven’t done anything for you.”

“Yes you have, just more emotionally than physically.”

“What do you mean?” Karolina asks the woman she’s started to see as her mentor.

“Well, before you guys showed up, I was feeling pretty lost. I’ve told you about the Daxamite invasion that happened a couple months before you got here before. During that, I had to say goodbye to someone really special to me. Defeating the invasion made the air poisonous for him, I sent him into space in my old pod to protect him. Truthfully, I don’t know what happened to him.”

“But how do we affect any of that?”

“You reminded me why I put that suit on, the real reason.” Kara smiled at them. “Before, I was using Supergirl to hide from the pain of losing someone I cared about. I was running, from my feelings, from my job, from everything that made me who I am. You guys helped me remember who that person is. Who I really am.”

“We really made that much of a difference for you?” Molly looked to be feeling a mixture of pride and embarrassment.

“Even more for me and Maggie,” Alex interjected, “we all do dangerous jobs, we’ve never minded but our drives have changed. I always wanted to make the world a better place, but that was to protect my sister,” Kara smiled at her, “but now, I don’t just want to make the world a better place, I’m determined to make it happen. Maggie is too. Because kids like you exist in this world, and you deserve to have every opportunity. I guess you could say you’ve given us a new lease on life.”

“What about Lena?” Nico asked softly. “How have we helped her? How can it compare to everything she’s done for us?” Nico gestures around the room with the hand not resting on Karolina’s thigh beneath the table. The roof over their head, the food they eat, the equipment they use to train, the clothes on their backs, all of it came from Lena.

“You’ll have to ask her.” Kara answers, even though she knows what Lena will say. It will mean more to hear it from the source. “I think her answer will surprise you.”

Kara’s phone rang a moment later, Winn letting her know about a robbery downtown that she could help with. Looks like the perps had managed to get ahold of some alien tech.

“Save me some pizza guys, I’ll be back in a bit.” Kara pulled her shirt open to reveal her suit, spinning around quickly as she shed the rest of her day wear. The runaways shared a silent, amused look after Kara placed the neatly folded stack of clothes in the designated spot on a small table placed in the corner of every room for that specific purpose. Lena had made sure Kara knew not to leave her clothes all over the Mansion when she had to leave for work. She placed her glasses on top of the pile, pulled her hair down, waved cheerfully at the kids and her sister and the swept out of the room. One loud _boom_ later and they were alone.

“Do you think we’ll ever get used to that?” Gert asked Alex as she followed her to the table.

“Oh yeah, trust me, it’s not nearly as impressive after the five hundredth time.” Alex clapped her hands together. “Now, who here knows how to play Egyptian Ratscrew?”

 

Half an hour later, Lena and Maggie return to the Mansion, greeted with a mixture of excited yelps and distraught groans emanating from the dining room. They share a look and shrug in tandem before moving into the indicated room, arms laden with several boxes of pizza. They can’t help but smile at the sight that greets them as they enter the room.

Alex Wilder and Alex Danvers sit side-by-side, chairs angled to the table but bodies facing one another. On the table between them, a pile of cards sits growing larger by the second as each person adds one to the pile on their turn. Chase, Molly, and Nico stand behind the teenage playing with Karolina and Gert standing behind the agent, all five of them cheering on their chosen Alex. Lena sets the pizza down on the opposite end of the table from the card game, taking the top three boxes off the top and moving them into the kitchen for Kara to eat when she gets back.

“Who’s winning?” Maggie asks after setting her pizzas down and joining Gert and Karolina on her fiancée’s side.

“Tied,” six voices answer in unison, moments before Wilder slaps his hand on the large pile in the middle.

“What? There wasn’t anything there!”

“Sandwich, Danvers,” Alex removes his hand to show the agent the six sandwiched between two fives.

“Damn, you’re good kid.” The agent held only five cards in her hand, meaning the teenager held the other 47. She had a slim chance of winning, and she knew it. Maggie smiled from her place behind the game.

She wasn’t sure if the kids had picked up on it yet or not, but Maggie and Alex had been giving each of them a special nickname. At first, it was just to differentiate between the two Alex’s and Nico’s habit of calling Karolina ‘Karo’ had caused a little confusion among the group at first. Then, Maggie decided that every kid deserved to have their own nickname, given to them by a trusted adult. Karolina was first to get one, Rainbow after both her powers and her generally sunny disposition. Gert was next, Arsenic to match Old Lace (even though Maggie didn’t come up with it, Gert had said she was okay with them using it) and then Molly was named Bruiser after almost knocking Kara’s lights out while they were working on controlling her strength. Nico had started off as Black Belt after she told Alex and Maggie of her training, but Maggie thought Nyx suited her personality and dark aesthetic better. Only the two boys had remained without a nickname, but Maggie finally had one for Alex. Ratscrew. It was funny, and would always remind her of the day the Runaways finally let them in. Now, she needed something for Chase. (She wanted to go with Hearteyes but didn’t want to embarrass the poor kid).

“And Ratscrew is victorious!” Maggie cheered as Alex finally held all the cards in his hand. He pumped his fists, rose from his chair, and bowed dramatically to the assembled group as he basked in his victory. The others laughed loudly, feeling freer than they had since they ran away.

“Pizza’s getting cold, guys.” Lena called to them as she brought plates into the room.

“How come I don’t have a nickname yet?” Chase asked as they sat down with their food after putting the cards away. “What? Everyone else has one.” He continued when all of his friends looked at him questioningly.

“I haven’t found one for you yet.” Maggie answers truthfully. “You’ve been harder to pin down than the others.”

“Wait, what’s everyone else’s nickname?”

“I’m Rainbow,” Karolina spoke up,

“Arsenic,” Gert pointed at herself,

“Bruiser,”

“I’m Black Belt, right?”

“Actually, I’m changing yours to Nyx,” Maggie gestured vaguely in Nico’s direction with one hand. “It suits you better. And your Ratscrew, Alex.” Nico looked satisfied with the change, smiling at Maggie before turning back to her food.

“Ratscrew,” Alex tested the name, thinking about his victory, “I like it.”

“I’m glad you approve,” Alex rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry Chase, we’ll come up with one for you sooner or later. You can’t rush something like getting a good nickname.”

“Yeah, you don’t want to get the wrong one!” Molly added in, her enthusiasm making her friends smile. They’d been worried she would lose her spirit the longer they stayed away from LA, but Molly was as happy as ever, maybe even happier.

“I guess so.” Gert rubbed Chase’s shoulder sympathetically with the hand not holding her pizza to her mouth. He smiled at her, his grin growing to a smirk as Gert blushed.

“Any word from Supergirl?” Karolina asked after swallowing her food.

“She’s on her way back now,” Lena answered after reading the text that lit up her phone screen.

“Sorry, that took so long guys.” Kara entered a few moments later, dressed in her suit and carrying her three boxes in from the kitchen. She plopped into the seat next to Lena left open for her. “They’re weapons were a little more heavy duty that I expected.”

“Are you okay?” Lena asked, her brow furrowing in concern.

“I’m fine,” Kara reached out a squeezed Lena’s hand gently, “just starving.”

Lena stared at Kara for a beat, her eyes roving across her face in search of any form of injury. Satisfied, Lena nodded her head and gestured for Kara to start eating. Across from them, Karolina and Nico shared an amused glance, Nico ran her hand across Karolina’s thigh under the table. They both glanced away, catching their friends’ eyes and offering a small nod.

The Runaways had a little bet going between them, with losers having a month of dish washing. The bet was simple, they had each picked a day in the not so distant future. Whoever chose whatever date ended up being closest to the one Kara and Lena got together would win. If it was directly between two, they’d both win. The one who guessed the date furthest off would lose and become the resident dish washer. They’d set the terms of the bet a week ago after Molly and Chase interrupted what they thought might have been Kara and Lena about to kiss.

Things weren’t perfect in the world, not by a long shot. Their parents were still murders, they were still wanted for a murder they didn’t commit, they still had to overwhelming responsibility of taking down PRIDE and stopping Jonah once and for all, but it wasn’t all bad. They had a roof over their heads, clean clothes on their bodies, food in their stomachs. They had each other, they were together, and Alex and Nico were finally getting along again. They had four women they trusted on their side, women they were beginning to love. Nico fell in love with Karolina a little more each day, though neither had said the words yet. And they had the joy of watching two women who were obviously meant for one another fall in love.

Finished with her meal, Nico leaned happily against Karolina’s side as conversation picked up around them. Karolina wrapped her arm around Nico’s shoulders, an absent, automatic motion, without turning from her conversation with Molly. The atmosphere was light, easy, brimming with laughter and happiness and it reminded Nico why she wanted to stand up to her parents in the first place.

She’d already lost one family, the one she was born into. She’d be damned if she lost the one she chose for herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, here's today's scheduled update! Thank you all so much for reading and leaving all your wonderful comments and kudos. 
> 
> I'll be able to keep a pretty consistent update schedule for the foreseeable future, I've got the next chapter entirely ready to go and I'm about a quarter of the way through chapter nine as well. I don't know if you guys have noticed by my chapters have slowly been getting longer. The first few chapters were around 2-3k words, and now they're upwards of 5k and the trend in continuing. I hope you don't mind. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> -Ambs


	8. Retrieval

Nico’s knee bounced steadily, nervous energy prompting the action until Karolina placed her hand over Nico’s leg. The bouncing stopped as Nico’s eyes trailed from Karolina’s hand, up her arm, past her shoulders until she finally met her eyes. Karolina had a small smile on her lips, meant to reassure and comfort Nico while her eyes silently asked if she was okay. Nico nodded slightly, shifting in her seat so she could lean her head on Karolina’s shoulder. Her eyes fell closed when Karolina kissed her hair, their hands joining over Nico’s knee. On Nico’s other side, Alex offered a small smile of his own while doing his best to keep his own fidgeting in check. They were all nervous.

“Breathe, guys.” Alex reminded them from the front seat. “Remember, we can turn around at any time. You don’t have to do this.”

After two weeks of planning, Karolina, Nico, and Alex were finally returning to LA to retrieve the Staff of One from Nico’s parents, and hopefully get some more info on PRIDE while they were at it. It wasn’t an actual mission, at least it wouldn’t be put on record at the DEO but J’onn had supplied transportation and extra protection for them by assigning both Agent Danvers and Agent Vasquez to accompany the teens to LA. Danvers drove their black suburban with Vasquez in the passenger seat. Vasquez was quiet but supportive, she didn’t pressure any of the kids to talk and made sure to keep them updated on their progress.

“We’re okay, Alex.” Nico said after taking a deep breath. “We can do this.” Karolina squeezed her hand gently.

They’ve been on the road for a little under two hours and with each second, they get closer to LA, Nico can feel her nerves igniting. She knows they need to do this. They need to get the Staff away from Tina. She needs to have something that she can use to protect her friends, to protect Karolina. She knows the Staff is an advantage they can’t afford to not have. Despite knowing that, the thought of returning to LA, to her childhood home, to all the memories it holds makes her sick to her stomach in a way she never expected.

She can’t help but wonder what Amy would think of all this. Not just the truth about PRIDE but about them running away, about her and Karolina, about living with Lena Luthor who is without a doubt their parents’ biggest adversary in the tech industry. Would Amy agree with everything they’ve done? Everything she’s done? She always liked Karolina, but would she like her as Nico’s girlfriend? Nico likes to think she would have, but she avoids thinking about it as much as possible. Wondering what Amy would think doesn’t change the fact Amy isn’t here. She’ll never know what Amy thinks about anything, ever again. Knowing that now, with everything that’s changed in her life, hurts more than it did when Amy first passed.

“Baby?” Karolina’s soft voice brings Nico out of her thoughts and she focuses on their joined hands. Her knuckles are white, straining against her skin as she squeezes Karolina’s hand too tightly.

“Oh, sorry,” Nico relaxes her hold on Karolina’s hand, watching as her fingers flex slightly before they move out of Nico’s field of vision. A weight settles over her shoulders, the warmth of Karolina’s hand rests on her outer arm as she’s pulled close. Nico’s head moves so she’s tucked in the crook between Karolina’s shoulder and neck. It’s not the most comfortable position given their cramped seats in the back of the suburban, but Nico’s too grateful for the contact to care. She inhales deeply through her nose, the scent and feel of Karolina easing her nerves if only for a moment.

“It’s okay,” Karolina tells her after kissing her hair again, “I know you’re nervous about going back there. I am, too.” Karolina’s voice is low, only for Nico to hear. “We can do this, and then we’ll be back home with potstickers and Chase badly singing along to _Moana._ ” Nico laughs despite herself. They’ve taken to having movie nights once a week at the Mansion, as a way for the teenagers to relax and feel normal for a night even if they can’t really forget about everything going on around them. Chase had enjoyed last weeks movie, _Moana_ , immensely and had been signing Maui’s song dramatically every chance he got.

“Home,” Nico whispers back, turning her face to kiss Karolina’s neck gently.

“Home,” Karolina repeats. Her hand leaves Nico’s shoulder for a second to land on Alex’s when he looks in their direction. Their eyes meet, and a silent agreement passes between them. No matter what happens at the Minoru household, they’ll make sure Nico doesn’t face any of it alone.

“Fifteen minutes out,” Vasquez speaks up. Agent Danvers uses the rear-view mirror to look the three runaways in the eye as the pass into LA city limits. They stare back, jaws clenched and eyes burning with the desire to prove themselves. Alex nods and eases through LA traffic.

They’ll face the music, she knows, and come out on top. She’s gotten to know these kids over the past month. She knows how determined they are, their drive to do what’s right no matter the cost. It’s admirable trait, one Alex is familiar with because it’s one the Runaways share with Kara. That’s part of what worries her. These kids will do anything to protect the people they care about, no matter dangerous, no matter how reckless.

Alex doesn’t fear the encounter with Nico’s parents, no, not at all. But she is scared of how this will affect Nico, and what lengths Alex and especially Karolina will go to in the name of protecting her.

 

 

The Mansion feels empty with three of its inhabitants absent. Gert feels the absence of Nico, Karolina and Alex more than she thought she would. Her fingers twist a loose thread on her sweater, she’s bitten her nails down far enough that when she goes to bite them again, she’s met with only skin. She’s sitting near the bottom of the steps in the Mansion’s foyer and her gaze alternating between the front door and her own chipped nail polish.

“They’re going to be fine, Gert.” Chase rubs a comforting hand down her back and Gert can’t help but relax. He hasn’t left her side since the others left with Alex. Even Molly had to move around, her feet bouncing and fingers tapping against her legs until she loudly proclaimed, she was going to go wrestle with Old Lace in the yard. Lena and Kara both had to leave, despite wanting to stay home. Keeping the Runaways safe involved the adults in their life acting like nothing was out of the ordinary, even when three of the kids they were caring for were off possibly risking their lives to get a magic staff.  

“I know.” Gert nods. “Rationally, I know that. They’ve got Danvers and that other agent with them, Karolina could probably take out anything that comes at them, and Nico and Alex are totally capable of defending themselves too, doubly so once Nico gets the staff. I know that, I do.” Gert also knows she’s over explaining everything, but she can’t help it. “But my brain isn’t always rational and I’m not going to actually believe they’re fine until they get home again.”

“What can I do to help?” Chase asks so sincerely, though Gert is surprised he asked at all. He’s constantly surprising her, he’s far more observant and insightful that she gives him credit for. She thought he couldn’t surprise her any more, not after knowing each other their whole lives. This might be the only time in her life she’s happy to have been wrong.

“I-I don’t know.”

Chase nodded. “Do you want to help me work on the Fistigons?” They’d been returned to him the previous week, after lots of pleading on Chase’s part and several assurances from Kara that there wouldn’t be any property damage.

“I wouldn’t understand half of what you do.” Gert pointed out.

“That doesn’t matter,” Chase stood, offering his hand to Gert, “it’s not about the work. I just want to help you relax. I know there’s not much I can do until the others get back, but I can at least try to help.”

“You do help, Chase,” Gert accepted his hand and let him lead her to the room who had claimed as his workshop. “It’s not as hard to think when I’m around you. I don’t feel like I have to analyze everything, I can just be. That helps more than you know.”

“Good, I’m glad.” Chase smiles at her and Gert is struck by how such a simple conversation can make her feel so extraordinary. Then, she supposes, Chase has always had that effect on her. Even when they were kids, Gert would put up significantly less of a fight to do something Chase wanted to do, even though most of it required athletic skills that Gert does not posses and has no desire too.

“So,” Gert begins slowly after a few minutes of comfortable silence pass. She’s had something on her mind for day now, something she desperately wants to clear up, but they’re always surrounded by everyone else in the house. She and Chase don’t have the advantage of sharing a bedroom like Karolina and Nico, who can actually keep their private conversations private. “I think there’s something we should talk about.”

“Okay?” Chase puts his tools down, turning in his seat to face Gert fully. “What’s up?”

“Um, well, you see, the thing is-“Gert huffs slightly, “we had sex.”

“Yeah, that’s a thing that happened.” Chase’s Adams apple bobs as he swallows. “Do you, I mean,” Chase clears his throat and tears his eyes away from Gert’s. “Did you not want to? I mean, I know you wanted too, at the time. But it doesn’t have to happen again.”

“It doesn’t?”

“NO! I thought you wanted it to be a one-time thing.” Chase shakes his head. “I’ve been trying not to pressure you or anything like that, even though I really want to do it again.”

“You do?” Gert’s expression is shocked, her eyes wide beneath her round glasses.

“Of course, I do.” Chase takes Gert’s hands in his own. “Gert, that moment we shared, it means everything to me. I meant every word I said that night. I see you, I’ve always seen you. I will always see you.”

“Do you really mean that?” Gert’s voice betrayed her emotions, shaking with affection, hope, and fear.

“Every word.” Chase promised. “You mean the world to me Gert, and I’m always going to be here for you, however you need me to be.”

“Chase, I – I don’t know what to say.” Chase shook his head, his dimpled smile making Gert’s heart race.

“You don’t have to say anything.” Their eyes met, and Chase opened his mouth to say more but suddenly found his lips otherwise occupied.

Gert’s lips were softer than he remembered, her body not as soft, a product of their constant workouts, but she tasted the same. Her lips moved over his slowly, like she was afraid if she pushed to hard, he’d pull away. Chase did the opposite, using his strong arms to pull Gert flush against him. The motion pulls Gert into Chase’s lap, her legs wrapping around his waist as their lips connect again and again.

“I’m not ready,” Gert says through panting breaths when their lips finally separate moments later, “to do it again. I’m not – Is it weird to want to go slow after I’ve already seen you naked?”

“No,” Chase chuckles lightly, “it’s great. We can do this however you want to.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” Chase sealed the deal with a soft kiss to Gert’s temple.

“Oh my god, FINALLY!” Molly’s yell made Gert jump so hard she fell of Chase’s lap and landed by his feet in a heap. “I’ve been waiting for you two to kiss and make up for forever.”

“Molly! Knocking is a thing you know!” Chase rose from his seat to help Gert up.

“Yeah, when the door is closed. You guys left it wide open.” Molly rolled her eyes as her sister glared at her. “Now, c’mon. I’m hungry and you’re the best cook here since Lena’s at work.”

“Okay, okay, we’re coming.” Gert shooed her sister off with a wave of her hand. “Well. That was mortifying.”

“At least it was just Molly,” Chase offered as he wrapped his arm around Gert’s shoulders. “Nico would tease us for years if she caught us like that.”

“Yeah, but we could get Nico back. It’s like we haven’t seen her and Karolina in compromising positions.” Gert knocked her head against Chase’s shoulder. “Molly’s too innocent to tease about that, yet.”

“We’ll get her back for it someday.” Chase promised lightly. “For now, we should get to the kitchen before she tries to cook and sets something on fire. Again.”

 

 

Alex parked the suburban a block away from the Minoru household before turning in her seat to look at the three nervous teenagers.

“Okay, we’ve got eyes on the house from here. Karolina send up a flare if you need us. You remember how?” Karolina nodded. “Good. Remember it’s not too late to go back. You don’t have to do this.”

Alex looked each of the teenagers in the eye, knowing they would do this no matter what.

“Keep the car running.” Nico’s voice sounded surer than she felt. “This won’t take long.”

They climbed out of the backseat and shut the door behind them, walking around the front of the suburban in the direction of Nico’s childhood home.

“You okay, boss?” Vasquez asked without taking her eyes from the kids.

“Ask me again when they come back.”

 

“You okay?” Karolina asks when they pause at the end of the driveway leading to Robert and Tina’s garage. Her hand found the small of Nico’s back, rubbing gently.

“No,” Nico answers honestly, looking up at Karolina. “But I will be, once we get this over with.”

“Okay,” Karolina has a very strong urge to pull Nico into her, steer her away from her old home and say to hell with the mission. They don’t need the Staff. But she knows they do, and that leaving now will delay the inevitable. “Let’s do this.”

“The blind spot’s over here.” Nico leads Karolina and Alex through a small whole in the bushes around the side of the house to the Wizard control panel. Alex uses a rock to break the off the lock holding the door closed and Nico pulls it open.

“Light it up, Rainbow,” Alex encourages her as he takes a step back from the console. Nico, on Karolina’s other side, places a reassuring hand on her arm.

“You can do this, Karo,” she whispers softly, her thumb rubbing a soothing pattern on the inside of Karolina’s wrist. Karolina nods slightly, removes her bracelet, and concentrates her lights on her right hand. She takes a step forward, hand stretched out in front of her and directs the energy into a singular beam.

The beam connects with the console, sparks shooting out. Alex flinches back slightly but Nico steps closer to Karolina, ready to push her out of the way if things get out of hand. She hears the garage doors open, a slight buzzing in her ears indicating the rest of the house coming to life as Karolina fries the circuits.

“You’ve got it.” Nico says a second after Karolina drops the beam. There’s a bead of sweat on her forehead from the effort of keeping her lights focused, but she smiles proudly when Nico confirms she did her job. “Let’s keep moving, we don’t know how much time we have.”

They enter the Minoru house from the back, the automated doors wide open thanks to Karolina’s abilities. There’s no sign of Nico’s parents around the house, but they still move as quietly as they can across the bottom floor. Nico leads the way to her mother’s office, her shoulders tense and hands clenched at her sides. Karolina wants to reach out to her, take her hand, kiss her head and remind her that she’s not alone but she knows she can’t. Nico’s determined to get the Staff, and she knows Karolina and Alex are with her every step of the way, and they have the support of Molly, Chase and Gert back in National City. Nico’s not alone, but she shoulders the burden of protecting her friends like she is.

“Alex, you can access her computer from there.” Nico directs Alex to her mothers’ desk as they enter the home office. Alex nods, pulling a non-descript flash drive from his pocket. Agent Danvers had supplied the drive, set up to copy all available information they find on PRIDE automatically and send it to a secure DEO server, just in case they have to make a speedy getaway and can’t grab the drive on the way out.

Nico turned to the back wall after Alex moved to the desk and Karolina took up her position next to the door to the office, staring at the case that housed the Staff of One. She was half-way expecting to not find it in the case, and the fact that it was there made her uneasy.

“Nico?” Karolina questioned softly after glancing over her shoulder to see that Nico hadn’t moved. She took a small step, intending to move to Nico’s side but at the same time unwilling to leave them undefended if Robert or Tina walked in.

Nico shook her head, breaking her spiraling thoughts and turning her head to meet Karolina’s eyes. She nodded once, her face a perfect mask but her eyes lit with apprehension. Karolina nodded back and sent what she hoped was a reassuring smile in Nico’s direction before turning to look out the door again.

Nico stepped up to the case, reaching for the catch on the side her mom had shown her the one time they worked with the Staff together. She forced herself to breath evenly, her discomfort growing in the silence of the house. She could hear her own heartbeat pounding in her ears, barely able to make out the sound of Alex typing at her mother’s desk. The Staff warmed in her hand, as if it was happy to be held by Nico again. Nico released one quick, startled breath. They had the Staff, she did it.

“Alex, you got anything?” Karolina asked suddenly, drawing Nico and Alex’s gaze to her. She held her silver bracelet in one hand, the other dimly glowing as she held it in front of her body.

“I’m not sure, but I copied all the files I could find.”

“Good, because we need to leave. Now.” Alex nodded, removing the flash drive and making sure the desk looked the same as it did when they entered.

“Karolina, what’s going on?” Nico asked as she moved closer to her girlfriend. Karolina held a finger to her lips, signaling for Nico to be quiet. Karolina took a hesitant step forward, her body half-way out of the office and arm raised to defend herself if necessary, before taking a sudden step backwards.

She reached for Nico with one hand, Alex with the other, pulling both of them to the wall with her. She silently clipped her bracelet onto her jeans after ensuring Alex would stay put if she released him. Karolina kept her hold on Nico secure, half hiding her with her own body. Nico looked at her questioningly, opening her mouth to speak again but Karolina placed a finger over her lips.

“Karo, what’s happening?” Nico asked as softly as she could, her voice shaking with fear and nerves.

“They’re here.” Karolina whispered back, her head turned so she could listen out the office door. She directed Alex stand on the other side of Nico, shielding her from both sides, as the voices finally reached Nico’s ears.

“Are we sure this is happening then? We can’t afford to be wrong about this.” Nico sucked in a breath at the sound of her mother’s voice.

“I’m sure,” Janet Stein answered, “he’s running out of time and Victor is refusing to help anymore.”

“He’s running out of options.” Catherine Wilder added, “that means he’s going to be even more dangerous.”

“We have one shot at this.” Dale said.

“We don’t know if we’ll ever be able to get more serum. We have to do this right.”

“Um, Tina,” Robert asked, Nico leaning heavily against Karolina at the sound of his father’s voice, “did you tell Wizzy to open every automated door in the house?”

“Of course not,” Tina scoffed, “why on earth would I do that?”

“Then why are they all open?” There was a beat of silence coming from the living room followed by a rush of footsteps, headed towards Tina’s office.

“Don’t come any closer!” Karolina stepped out of the office door, both hands glowing fiercely and a determined glint in her eye.

“Karolina! What are you doing – Nico?” Tina’s gaze fell to her daughter as she stepped up behind Karolina, Alex flanking her other side.

“Alex!” Catherine called to her son, taking an involuntary step forward. Karolina aimed one of her glowing hands at Catherine.

“Where’s Chase?” Janet’s voice shook slightly.

“Gert? Molly?” Dale stood on his tiptoes, trying to see over the kid’s shoulders.

“They aren’t here.” Nico said lowly. She held the Staff behind her back, ready for her mother to try and take it from her.

“Where have you been? We’ve been worried sick.” Robert stepped up beside his wife, eyes only for his daughter. “Nico, we- “

“Save it, I don’t want to here it.” Nico snapped at him. “We came here for one thing, and we’ve got it. We’re leaving now.”

“Wait,” Janet stepped forward again, “please, we – there’s things we need to talk to you kids about.”

“We have nothing to say to you,” Karolina’s hands pulsed in warning. She shot Alex a look over her shoulder, the boy nodded and grabbed Nico’s arm.

“Then just listen, please?” When the kids didn’t move, Janet continued. “We don’t have much time. Jonah’s moving forward with his plans. He’s going to knock California into the sea.”

“We found out what’s at the bottom of that hole.” Stacey spoke up for the first time as she joined Janet. “It’s the ship Jonah arrived in, centuries ago.”

“But that’s not all,” Dale picked up where his wife left off. “Jonah, he wasn’t alone when he came here. His family is on the ship, too.”

“You’re family, Karolina.” Tina said, watching how the teenagers reacted. Karolina’s eyes widened slightly, her lights flickering for a second. Nico pulled her arm out of Alex’s grip to put her hand on Karolina’s back.

“When is this happening?” Nico asked when it became apparent Karolina wasn’t going to say anything.

“One month from tomorrow,” Robert answered,

“and you kids need to be as far away from here as possible when that happens.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Karolina asked shakily, hating how weak she sounded.

“You’re our children,” Janet answered, “you’ve all been like family to us since you were born. That hasn’t changed just because you ran away.”

“We’re trying to protect you,” Robert said pleadingly. “We know you aren’t safe with here, not anymore. We’d do anything to keep you safe, you know that.”

“Do we?” Alex spoke up for the first time. “All the kids you killed, everything you’ve done to cover it up. Turning us in for _murder_? That was all done in the name of keeping us safe?” Alex scoffed.

“Alex, you don’t understand,”

“I understand perfectly.” Alex interrupted his mother. “You guys have no idea what it really means to be a family. None of you do.”

“We’re your parents, Alex.” Catherine shook her head, “we’ve only ever wanted the best for you.”

“We love you.”

“Don’t lie to me, Mom.” Nico glared at her mother. “You say you’re protecting us, trying to provide for us, for me. But you and I both know we haven’t been mother and daughter in a long time. It’s time to stop pretending otherwise.” Nico’s eyes flickered over to her father, her hand gripping the fabric of Karolina’s shirt tighter. “We’re leaving.”

Alex and Nico moved behind Karolina, heading for the door they entered through.

“I’m sorry Nico, but I can’t let you leave with the Staff.” Tina held her hand out.

“You don’t have a choice.” Nico refused to let go of the Staff as it jumped in her hand.

“Nico, let go.” Tina ordered, following the three teenagers into the backyard. Robert followed her out, but gestured for Catherine, Janet, and the Yorkes to stay by the door instead of coming all the way out.

“We need to leave now,” Alex said, looking over his shoulder at where he knew Agent Danvers sat in a suburban down the street. “Nico,”

“She’s not going anywhere with that Staff.” Before the Runaways could react, Tina rushed up the group, ducking under the beam Karolina sent at her and rising to her feet again. She released three quick strikes against Karolina, hitting her in the stomach, side, and throat. Karolina collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

Tina moved to her daughter once Karolina was down, using Nico’s distress over Karolina to physically rip the Staff from her hands. She swept the Staff to the side, knocking Nico to one side and Alex to the other.

“Karolina!” Nico called, ignoring the ache in her own shoulder from her fall and crawling to Karolina’s side.

“ _FREEZE!_ ” Tina’s powerful voice called as she held her arm over the pool. Ice cracked across the top, loud thumps emanating from below it.

“Alex!” Catherine called but was kept from rushing into the yard by Dale and Janet.

“Get the Staff,” Karolina croaked harshly, her throat protesting every movement. “I’ll get Alex.”

“Tina, release the spell!” Catherine demanded but it fell on deaf ears. Karolina moved to the edge of the pool, both hands lit and aiming a single, focused beam at the ice.

“Tina!” Robert called. “That’s enough!”

“Nico, the ice is too thick!” Karolina yelled out, her voice cracking with the effort. Alex’s pounding on the ice grew weaker by the second.

Nico rushed at her mother, forcing her to use the Staff to block the furious blows Nico aimed at her body. Her concentration broken, Tina’s ice spell dropped, and Karolina pulled a coughing Alex from the water. Nico continued her onslaught, grabbing the Staff with both hands. The Staff pulsed in her hands, and Tina looked nervous for the first time.

Using the Staff as a boost, Tina used Nico’s grip on the tool to swing her in a large circle. She used the momentum the movement offered to throw Nico away from her, she crashed into her friends. An audible crunch sounded as Karolina let out a sharp scream.

“Karolina!” Nico clambered off her girlfriend and Alex, watching with wide, angry eyes as Karolina cradled her arm to her chest. Alex moved behind Karolina, supporting her weight with his own while he took off his jacket to wrap her arm.

Nico felt her spine stiffen as she rose to face her mother, red clouding her vision with each whimper that came from Karolina’s mouth. She could feel the anger rushing through her veins, clouding her thoughts. Karolina was hurt. Her mother hurt Karolina, her Karolina, the person Nico was falling in love with. Nico could only see red. She felt like she was moving in slow motion, her hand rising on its own accord, open as if to grab something. Tina watched with wide eyes as the Staff jumped from her hand to her daughters. Refusing to let go, Tina moved to rush forward until she found herself stuck in place.

Nico held the Staff out in front of her, the halo glowing to signal an active spell, though no sound came out of her mouth. Tina had been on the receiving end of many glares from her daughter, but she’d never seen as much anger in her eyes as she did now. Tina turned her head towards her husband, silently telling him to do something. Robert tried to move forward and failed, stuck just as securely as Tina.

“Nico, we need to get Karolina out of here!” Alex yelled when Nico didn’t move. “Nico!” His cries grew more desperate with each second that they remained in the backyard.

“Nico,” Karolina’s voice was no louder than a whisper, but it was enough to break Nico out of whatever spell had taken her over.

“Karolina,” Nico turned, the red fading from her vision as she returned to her injured girlfriends’ side. “I’m here, baby. It’s okay. We’re getting you out of here, now.” Karolina nodded, her eyes falling closed as Nico pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

“Help me get her up,” Alex said softly, “I’ll carry her to the car.” He kept his voice low so the adults watching them wouldn’t know they had an escape plan.

“Karolina, I- “

“I think you’ve done enough, Tina.” Janet’s voice was harsher than Nico had ever heard, but she paid it no mind. Karolina released another soft whimper as Alex maneuvered her into his arms.

“I’m sorry, Karolina.”

“It’s okay, Alex.” Karolina whispered back, “just keep moving. It’s going to hurt no matter what.”

Alex nodded, making sure Karolina was secure against his chest before making his way out of the Minoru backyard as quickly as he could without hurting Karolina more. Nico followed behind him, her eyes glued to Karolina, the shrunken Staff in her hand. They rushed down the driveway, every painfilled sound coming from Karolina breaking Nico’s heart. She could see the DEO suburban in the distance, relief filling her being. They had stayed exactly where Agent Danvers said they would. Karolina wouldn’t have to suffer for too much longer.

The suburban moved closer, meeting the three Runaways at half the original distance from the Minoru house. Vasquez jumped out of the passenger seat before the car came to a halt, pulling open the back door for Alex. Nico raced around to the other side of the car, throwing the door open and placing herself in the middle seat with the Staff at her feet. Alex set Karolina in her seat as gently as he could, and she leaned into Nico’s embrace. Vasquez pushed the door closed while Alex ran around the car to get in on Nico’s other side.

“What the hell happened?” Agent Danvers asked as they pulled away from the curb. Vasquez looked at her for confirmation, activating her comms when she received a nod from her superior.

“Our parents showed up,” Alex answered the question. “Some of them anyway. Nico’s mom wouldn’t let us leave with the Staff. We had to fight her off.” Alex ran a hand through his wet hair, splashing water onto the seat. His clothes were soaked and clinging to him, his glasses dotted with water, but he seemed to not notice.

“And Karolina?”

“I – I don’t know. We heard something crack. I think it was her arm.” Alex ran his hand through his hair again as he looked at his friends. Nico had one arm wrapped around Karolina’s waist, the other carding through her hair gently. Karolina looked pale, tears still streaming down her face.

“Karolina, Rainbow, I need you to look at me sweetie.” Danvers requested gently as she pulled the suburban into an empty parking lot. She cut the engine and turned in her seat to look directly at the injured teenager. “Rainbow, can you tell me where it hurts?”

“Arm,” Karolina grunted out, “throat.” Nico kissed her hair.

“Okay, good job. You’re doing great, Rainbow. We’re going to get you to the DEO, okay?” Alex turned to her fellow agent. “Vasquez?”

“Landing in three,” Vasquez answered.

“What’s going on?” Nico asked worriedly.

“We’re bringing in a chopper. We’ll get the three of you back to National City and the DEO that way.” Alex reached out to squeeze Nico’s knee gently. “We’ll get her home, Nico. I promise.”

A rhythmic beating greeted them as Alex opened her door. She spoke quickly to the agent driving the chopper before opening the back door to the suburban.

“Rainbow, I’m going to carry to the chopper, okay?” Karolina nodded her consent, allowing the older woman to pick her up out of Nico’s arms and carry her to the chopper. Nico climbed out after her, securing the Staff of One on her belt loop and accepting the hand Alex offered her to help her into the chopper. She moved to Karolina’s side again as soon as she was on board. Agent Danvers boarded the chopper, pulled the side door closed behind her and signaled to the pilot to take off.

Nico felt Karolina grow heavy in her arms, the blonde slumping even further against her. She was about to panic, her eyes growing wide and heart rate accelerating until Agent Danvers handed her a headset.

“She’s okay,” her voice filtered through the muffs covering Nico’s ears. “She’s just exhausted and in pain. It’s better for her to sleep now, she won’t hurt as much.” 

Nico nodded, pulling the headset off and shifting Karolina into a more comfortable position, careful not to nudge her arm and ignoring the pain in her own shoulder that throbbed with each motion. They did it. They got the Staff, but Nico wouldn’t consider it a victory. Not with Alex beside her, soaking wet from almost drowning, and Karolina, injured and exhausted in her arms. Nico’s jaw clenched, and she pulled Karolina tighter against her chest.

This wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting a day early because I'm swamped with assignments and won't have time to do it tomorrow. I might switch updates to Saturdays instead of Sundays for the foreseeable future. We'll see what happens. 
> 
> Any way, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> -Ambs


	9. Revelations

It feels like an eternity had passed by the time Nico was allowed to see Karolina again. Kara had greeted them at the DEO when they arrived, explaining that Lena would bring the rest of the Runaways over with Maggie once the three of them had been checked over and cleared. Then, Kara had gently lifted Karolina out of Nico’s arms and carried her off. Nico had tried to follow her, not wanting to leave Karolina’s side, but Alex stopped her before she could move.

“Nico, I know you want to be with her,” Alex gripped Nico’s arm gently, noticing the wince she tried to conceal. “And you will be soon, okay, I promise. But I need to check you both over first. Make sure you aren’t injured, too.”

“Alex, I need to – “

“I know, Nyx. I know.” Alex nodded. “And you will. They’re taking Karolina to a private room. I’ll take you there myself as soon as I can. I promise. But you know Karolina would want you to look after yourself.”

“I’m fine, Alex.”

“No, you’re not. Nico, please.” Nico stiffened slightly when her friends touched her shoulder, Ratscrew stepping up behind her. “Karolina’s going to need you, and she’s going to need you safe and taken care of.”

“Fine,” Nico conceded, letting the Agent lead her away while Alex went to change into the dry clothes Agent Schott brought him.

Nico moved robotically while Alex checked her over. She had some bruising on her back from impacting with the both the ground and her friends, and her shoulder was sprained from both the fall and from Tina using her as a wrecking ball. Alex said it wasn’t too bad an injury, but she did insist on putting Nico’s arm in a sling. She was given a pair of black sweat pants and t-shirt to change into, she hadn’t even noticed that her clothes were wet from the makeshift sling Alex had made with his hoodie. Then, she was left alone while Agent Danvers went to check over Karolina. Nico felt like hours had passed by the time Alex came into the room and asked Nico to follow her to Karolina’s room.

Karolina was awake when Nico entered the room, talking softly with Kara.

“You’ve got a guest, Rainbow.” Alex said as she entered the room with Nico in tow.

“Nico,” Karolina smiled as her girlfriend came into view, her makeup smeared and hair that had been styled perfectly before reduced to a tangled mess. Karolina’s throat aches and her arms throbbing but she discovers that she really doesn’t care as Nico approaches the bed Karolina’s resting in and throws her arm around Karolina’s shoulders.

“Karo,” Nico whispers her name against Karolina’s neck before pressing a kiss in the same spot.

“I’m okay, Nico.” Karolina says back, nodding slightly at Kara and Alex as they slowly move out of the room. Nico pulls back at the sound of the door falling closed and seems surprised to find herself alone with Karolina.

“Your arm?” Nico asks, fingers ghosting over the hard, black cast that covers the majority of Karolina’s left forearm.

“It was a clean break,” Karolina explains, “Alex said I’ve already made progress healing. Something about not suppressing my powers while it mends.”

“And your throat?” Nico had noticed how rough Karolina’s voice sounded.

“Just bruised.” Karolina catches Nico’s good hand in her own, bringing Nico’s hand to her lips and placing a kiss against her knuckles. “And you? What happened to your arm?”

“Strained shoulder,” Nico explains softly, “Alex is making we wear the sling as a precaution. I’ve got some bruises on my back, but nothing serious.” Nico untangled their hands, so she could cup Karolina’s cheek. Karolina leant into the touch.

“We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?” Karolina chuckles.

“Karolina, I – “

“I know,” Karolina cut Nico off, anticipating the apology on her lips. “None of this is your fault, baby.”

“I should have let her have the Staff.”

“No, Nico, you did the right thing. We can’t let PRIDE have something that powerful on their side.”

“She hurt you, Karolina.” Nico hated how her voice shook as she spoke. “She wouldn’t have stopped. She’s supposed to protect me and love me more than anyone else in the world. And I had to watch her hurt someone I love.”

“Nico,” Karolina reached for Nico, gripping her waist gently.

“I can’t watch that again, I can’t.” Nico shakes her head, as if she’s trying to forcibly remove the memory from her head. “I felt so powerless. I never want to feel that way again. Not if it means you get hurt.”

Karolina rose from her bed, pulling Nico fully into her embrace. Nico held her just as tightly, fighting against the tears that wanted to fall from her eyes. She took a deep breath, the scent of Karolina lingering in her nose. Karolina held Nico as close as she could with one arm in a cast, cradling Nico’s head where it rested against her chest.

“We’re safe, Nico.” Karolina whispered into her hair. “We did what we had to do, and we made it through. We’re safe, we’re with people that care about us, and we’re together.” Karolina dropped a kiss onto Nico’s forehead. “I’m here, baby. I’m not going anywhere.”

Nico pulled back just enough to look Karolina in the eye. She’s always found Karolina’s eyes mesmerizing. They hold so much emotion buried in infinite shades of blue. Nico could spend hours navigating through the ocean before her and never get bored. Always open, never guarded, that’s how Karolina’s eyes are every time she looks at Nico. Nico can see all the feelings Karolina has for her, everything that Nico knows Karolina sees in Nico’s own eyes. Everything that she’s too scared to admit she feels.

Karolina leaned down, connecting her lips with Nico’s softly. Nico leaned her forehead against Karolina’s when they parted, breathing deep and feeling Karolina’s breaths against her own lips.

“Come lay down with me.” Karolina whispered when Nico opened her eyes again. “I’m supposed to be resting, but I always feel better with you close.”

Nico agrees, pressing their lips together again before helping Karolina crawl back into her bed. Once she’s settled, Nico joins her girlfriend and curls against her chest on her uninjured side. Karolina’s hand slips beneath the back of Nico’s top to rest against the soft skin of her back, stroking gently. Nico feels the last bits of adrenaline fading from her body, exhaustion slipping in. With Karolina’s hand against her back and heartbeat beneath her ear, Nico lets the exhaustion in her bones take over and closes her eyes. The last thing she feels before she falls asleep is Karolina’s lips against her forehead.

“Kara,” Lena called as she entered the hallway leading to the private room Karolina had been given at the DEO with Chase, Gert, Molly, and Maggie trailing behind her. They stopped outside Karolina’s door, where Kara stood with her sister and Alex. “How are they?”

“They’re okay,” Kara met Lena’s eyes before quickly moving her gaze to the three scared teenagers standing beside them. “They’ve got some injuries but it’s nothing serious.”

“What happened?” Gert’s grip on Chase’s arm was so tight her nails left indents on his skin.

“Our parents were there, some of them.” Alex answered, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Nico’s parents, and yours,” he gestured to Gert and Molly, “your Mom, Chase, and mine, too.”

“Nico’s mom wouldn’t give up the Staff without a fight, would she?” Gert already knew the answer, but she needed to hear the confirmation. “How bad was it?”

“Bad,” Alex shook his head, “she tried to drown me, Karolina’s got a broken arm, and Nico. She was – I’ve never seen her so angry before. It’s like she wasn’t in control of her body.” He sighed heavily, the events of the day weighing on his shoulders. “But we got the Staff, and I copied all the files from Tina’s computer that I could. Agent Schott’s going over them now.”

“Can we see them?” Chase directed his question to Agent Danvers.

“They may not be up for talking.”

“I know,” Chase corrected himself after Gert pinched his arm, “we know. That’s fine. They’re our family.”

“Okay, go on in. Just try not to make too much noise.” The four teenagers nodded and moved past Alex as she held the door open. Maggie, Lena, Kara, and Alex caught a glimpse of Nico and Karolina curled together on the bed as Alex pulled the door closed.

Once out of sight of the teenagers, Lena’s shoulders heaved and she all but collapsed against Kara.

“Lena, hey, let’s go sit down.” Kara caught her easily, directing her to a private room further down the hall and leaving Alex and Maggie to watch over the kids. “Lena? Lena, please tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing, nothing,” Lena sniffled as she sat down in an uncomfortable chair located near the corner of the room Kara had led her too. “I’m fine.”

“I thought we agreed to not keep secrets from each other anymore.” Kara crouched in front of Lena, her hands warm and soothing where they rested against Lena’s knees. “Safe space, remember? You can tell me anything.”

Lena nodded, swallowing against the emotion in her throat. She could _really_ use a glass of wine, but she knows Kara won’t go for that until they have everything sorted. “I was just worried about them.”

It’s just the tip of the iceberg of emotions Lena’s dealing with, but it seems to be the most prevalent. She could barely function all day, knowing three kids that she was beginning to see as family were risking their lives in another city. It didn’t matter that they had extra protection, that Alex would never have returned to National City without Nico, Karolina, and Alex with her. It didn’t matter that Lena knew very well how good those kids were at dealing with whatever curve ball life threw at them. All that mattered was three teenagers, three children, facing the worst evil imaginable. It’s bad enough to know there’s evil in the world, and Lena knows how much it hurts to discover how close that evil is to home.

“They’re okay, Lena. They’re safe.”

“They’re hurt.” Lena shook her head. “Alex almost drowned, Karolina broke her arm, had who knows what injuries Nico has, especially if her mother is the one responsible!” Tears fell from her eyes despite how hard Lena tried to keep them in. “I promised I would protect them, and I didn’t. I broke my promise.”

“Lena,” Kara pulled her into an embrace, her heart breaking for the sobbing woman in her arms. Lena had such a big heart, she loved others more fiercely than anyone Kara had ever known, and she hurt the same way. “Lena, honey, I need you to listen to me.” The pet name slipped out without Kara noticing, though Lena did, and she pulled back enough to look Kara in the eyes.

“Lena, there’s nothing we could have done. We didn’t know their parents would be there or attack them. Nico was determined to get that Staff from her mother, no one could have talked her out of it. Not even Karolina and we know she tried.” Lena nodded slightly at Kara’s words. “I know you hate knowing their parents treated them like this, I do too. And I know you want to be the good influence for them that you never had. I know.”

“But,” Kara cupped Lena’s face gently, “we can’t protect them from everything. We see them as children, but they aren’t. Not anymore. They’ve been forced to grow up too soon. They’re figuring out their place in this crazy, messed up world long before they should have too.”

“You’re not exactly making me feel better here, Kara.”

“I’m not done yet.” Kara rolled her eyes but smiled a second later. “My point is, they have the weight of the world on their shoulders, but they don’t have to deal with it alone.” Kara’s thumb stroked Lena’s cheek gently, her heart fluttering in her chest when Lena leaned into her touch. “They have each other, and us, and Maggie and Alex. We can’t protect them, as much as I wish we could, it’s just not possible. But we can support them, comfort them when they let us, and we’ll make sure they don’t face their parents alone.”

“I feel so silly right now.” Lena said, chuckling slightly. She sniffled, wiping her nose on the sleeve of the hoodie she wore. Kara recognized it as one that she had worn around the Mansion a few days back but didn’t comment on it. Something about Lena wearing her jacket warmed Kara’s heart.

“Nothing you feel is silly, Lena.” Kara stroked her cheek again. “You’re incredible, Lena Luthor. And it’s about time you realized that.”

Lena’s heart caught in her throat at the tender look in Kara’s eyes, the conviction in her voice. Kara spoke as if Lena had never been anything but perfect in her eyes and it took Lena’s breath away. No one had ever looked at her that way before, not with the same intensity that Kara did. Memories filtered through Lena’s mind, times that Kara looked at her like she hung the moon and put the stars in the sky. Nights at the Mansion after the kids had gone to bed, sitting on Kara’s bed with a bottle of wine and talking about everything and nothing in the same conversation. Falling asleep leaning against Kara’s shoulder and waking up feeling abnormally cold after Kara moved Lena into her own bed.

 _Oh,_ Lena thought, _of course._

She felt a rush of affection surge through her body for the woman still kneeling in front of her. She could feel her heart rate increase, watched Kara’s brow furrow as she heard the change in tempo. Lena’s hands rose of their own accord, one touching Kara’s shoulder gently and the other sliding to the back of her neck. Kara’s skin was warm beneath her touch and Lena vaguely wondered if her hands were cold, or if that would bother Kara at all. Then, all Lena could think about was why she hadn’t done this before as she used her grip on Kara’s neck to pull her in.

Their lips met, a gasp of surprise escaping Kara’s and Lena pulls back. Kara’s eyes are clouded over and Lena’s just about to apologize when Kara swoops back in. Kara’s hands slid to Lena’s back, pulling her close as their lips mold together. The fabric of Kara’s suit feels rough beneath Lena’s hand, but her lips are soft, tantalizing. Lena’s sure she’s never felt so wonderful in her life.

They pull apart, chests heaving, and lips swollen from their kisses. Lena’s lipstick is smeared across Kara’s lips and the sight only makes Lena want to kiss her again. Kara’s starring at her the way she stares at the stars, a mix of wonder and longing, like she can’t believe something so breathtaking as what she’s seeing actually exists.

“We should check on the kids.” Lena says after a heavy beat of silence, reaching up to wipe the lipstick off of Kara’s lips. Kara catches her hand and presses a kiss against her palm.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Kara rises out of her crouching position, offering her hand to Lena to help her out of her seat. Lena takes the offered hand, then, once she’s on her feet, uses their joined hands to pull Kara into a hug. Kara’s arms loop around her shoulders and Lena knows everything will be okay.

 

Kara and Lena are greeted with hushed voices when they enter the room Karolina and the other Runaways are resting in. Molly and Alex stand on one side of Karolina’s bed, Gert and Chase on the other with the girl herself sitting awake on the bed with a sleeping Nico curled into her chest. The five friends glace in Lena and Kara’s direction, noting their joined hands but not feeling cheerful enough to offer any comments of teases. They join Maggie and Alex, leaning against the back wall of the room.

“That’s all they said? They want us to run away?” Kara’s ears picked up on Chase’s distressed whisper.

“They’re going to try and stop Jonah, but they don’t want us there.” Alex nodded. “They didn’t say how, but it has something to do with Jonah’s ship.”

“The ship that’s buried under the dig site.” Gert felt Chase take her hand. “They’re going to what? Destroy it?”

“I don’t know, but we need to find out.”

“Why?” Chase asked harshly, his voice rising slightly. “Why not let our parents deal with it? They think they can handle it, why should we get involved?”

“We’re already involved.” Karolina spoke up, brushing her fingers through Nico’s hair, “and it’s not just Jonah’s ship at the bottom of that whole.”

“What do you mean?” Molly asked.

“Jonah didn’t come here alone, at least not according to our parents,” Karolina sighed. “His family is still on that ship.”

“Your family,” Gert whispered softly, the hand not holding Chase’s moving to rest comfortingly on Karolina’s shoulder.

“Karolina, there’s no guarantee the people down there are like you,” Alex said, though he seemed disappointed in himself for even saying it. “They might not be good.”

“There’s no guarantee they’re like Jonah either.” Karolina’s grip on Nico tightened, her hand moving to the small of Nico’s back and pulling the small girl more firmly against her chest. She wished her other arm wasn’t in a cast so she could properly hold Nico, but now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. “Alex, they’re innocent.”

“We don’t know that.” Chase protested. “We don’t know why they came here in the first place.”

“But we can’t condemn them to death.” The whole group started as Nico spoke up. She lifted her head from Karolina’s chest and looked around at her friends concerned faces. Karolina shifted next to her, sitting up fully and using her grip on Nico to pull her into a sitting position with their backs against the wall, shoulder to shoulder. Nico’s good hand fell to Karolina’s thigh. “We can’t. We’re no better than our parents if we do.”

“So what do we do?” Gert questioned. “Are we going to face PRIDE and try to protect the ship at the same time?”

“Can we even do that? It was hard enough to fight off just Tina. Can we really face the whole group?”

“We don’t have a choice.” Nico gripped Karolina’s thigh tighter, Karolina’s thumb rubbing a soothing circle on her back in response. “We have time. To get stronger. To prepare. We know when Jonah’s making his big move and that puts us one step ahead.”

“And we’ve got the Staff, and Chase’s Fistigons.” Karolina joined in. “Molly gets stronger every day.”

“And we still don’t know what all you can do,” Gert pointed at Karolina, “but your powers will help us a lot.”

“Still, we can’t do this by ourselves.”

“You don’t have to.” Kara stepped up to the foot of the bed Karolina and Nico shared. “You don’t have to do anything alone.”

“Kara, this isn’t your fight.” Nico pointed out stoically, without meeting Kara’s eyes.

“Yes, it is.” Kara’s stance softened, opening her shoulders and letting the six teenagers in front of her truly focus on the crest she wore on her chest. “Every day, I put on this suit and fight battles that aren’t mine to fight. Every. Single. Day. Do you know why?”

The Runaways shook their heads no, waiting anxiously for Kara to continue speaking.

“When I was twelve, my mother loaded me into a spaceship and told me to be brave. I watched my whole world implode on itself, everything that I had ever known was gone in an instant.” Kara watched the attentive teenagers closely. “I’ve watched planets die, I’ve lost family, gained them back and then lost them again.” Behind Kara, Alex looked down sharply. Maggie reached for her hand, brow furrowing in concern but she remained quiet. “I’ve lost so much more than I ever thought possible.”

“Then why keep fighting?” Nico questioned, feeling Kara’s words resonate deep in her chest.

“Because I have infinitely more to lose.” Nico looked up at her words, meeting Kara’s gaze evenly. “I have family and friends that I would do anything to protect. I have someone I’m falling in love with who I don’t want to lose. I have a job, a real one, and future that doesn’t revolve around a red cape and a symbol on my chest.” Kara smiled slightly. “I’ve got a group of rag-tag teenagers that are determined to save the world and trusting me to keep them safe while they do it.” Gert snorts, the other Runaways smiling slightly at Kara’s words.

“I made a promise, to you, to do anything I can to keep you safe. I make the same promise again and again whenever I put on this suit. I fight because I have something to fight for, something to remind me why I’m doing this. This is your fight, but it’s not you against the world.” Kara’s words echo what she said earlier to Lena, when it was just the two of them alone down the hall. She speaks them with the same conviction she did before, the same certainty.

“We can’t ask you to do this, Kara. This isn’t your responsibility.” Karolina glanced at Nico out of the corner of her eye as she spoke. Nico met her gaze and nodded slightly. “We need to do this.”

“You aren’t asking me to do anything.” Kara looked each of the Runaways in the eye in turn. “I’m keeping my promise. I won’t interfere unless you need me, but I will be there. As backup and moral support.” Kara smiled at them, “Besides, I know Molly’s strong but even she can’t stop me from going. Don’t forget that I am an actual superhero.”

The Runaways laugh, tension in their shoulders dissipating as Kara smiles warmly at them.

“We know, super is in the name,” Karolina jokes before her words take a serious turn, “but you’re more than that. To us, you’re not just a superhero. You’re Kara.”

“You believed in us when our parents betrayed us. You accepted us.”

“Quirks and all.” Chase speaks after Gert, their hands linked together between them. Nico and Karolina zero in on their joined hands and the distinct lack of blush from either of them, sharing a surprised but happy look.

“All of you did.” Molly points to where Maggie, Alex, and Lena hang back against the wall and gestures for them to join the group around the bed. They do, stepping up on either side of Kara. If anyone notices Lena’s hand move slightly to grasp Kara’s before falling back to her side, they don’t comment on it.

“We can never repay you for everything you’ve done for us.” Alex’s words surprise all four adults but the recover quickly.

“We don’t want you to repay us,” Lena smiles, “we want you to make it through this mess and be better off for it.”

“And we’ll help you however we can, now and after this is all over.”

“Do you really mean that?” Molly’s voice is as timid as they’ve ever heard before and it hits Lena in that moment how strong Molly is. How she’s been putting on a brave face, determined to be just like her friends, but she’s still a scared fourteen-year-old.

“Of course we do,” Lena moves over to Molly, resting her hands on Molly’s shoulders and looking into her eyes. “I know what it’s like to be disillusioned by your family, by your parents. It’s the worst, it makes you feel like everything in the world is a lie, and like you’ll never have a happy family again. But you will, I promise.”

“How do you know?” Alex rests his hand on Molly’s shoulder, squeezing in a brotherly manner that makes her smile.

“Because I used to feel the same way.” Lena glances around at the rest of the group to find them all listening attentively. “I used to think I’d never belong with anyone, never have a family. But I do.”

“You have us.” Karolina squeezes Nico’s shoulders, holding her close. “We have each other. El Myrrha, right?” She directs her question at Kara.

“That’s right.”

“El, Myrrha, what’s that mean?” Nico asks, looking between her favorite blonde and the Kryptonian.

“Stronger together. It’s what this symbol means.” Kara tapped a finger against her chest. “It’s my family’s motto, from Krypton.”

“I hope you don’t mind sharing,” Gert said, leaning into Chase with a happy little grin. “Stronger together sounds like exactly the mindset we need to have.”

“I think you’re right,” Maggie smiles at them, leaning into Alex slightly as a sudden realization hits her.

“So, we all agree? No one is fighting anyone on their own. We’re a family, we stick together.” Alex, Gert, Chase, Karolina, and Nice nodded at Kara’s words, those coupled together squeezing their partner slightly in assurance. Molly pulled Lena into a tight hug, her eyes flashing orange for the briefest of seconds before she calmed herself down.

“Aw man,” Molly groaned suddenly, pulling away from Lena and turning to her friends. “Does this mean I have _three_ older sisters, and _two_ brothers, now?”

“Yep.” Alex smiled cheekily, pulling on the cat ears on Molly’s beanie.

“Oh my god, I’m so screwed when I start dating.” Molly’s expression showed genuine annoyance and the teenagers laughed. Kara and Lena shared a smile as Lena moved back to her side, their hands joined but they remined silent.

“I’m going to go check on Winn, see if he found anything.” Alex whispered to her sister, kissing Maggie on the cheek before sneaking out of the room without the laughing teenagers noticing.

“Alex, wait,” Maggie called after her fiancée once they were a good distance from the room, alone together in the abandoned hallway.

“What’s up, Mags?” Alex turned to her curiously, her hands automatically gripping Maggie’s hips as she pulled Alex into an expected but welcome kiss. “Woah, what was that for?” Alex asked after Maggie pulled back. She wasn’t complaining, but that was the kind of kiss Maggie would normally give her out in the open, when anyone could walk up to them. That kind of kiss was better for behind closed doors.

“I get it now,” Maggie said, her hands sliding down to grip Alex’s arms. “Why you want to be a mom so bad. I understand.” Alex take a deep breath, releasing it through her nose. They’d been arguing for weeks about the kid issue, only when they were completely alone and making sure the kids didn’t pick up on the tension between them. The process was exhausting but Alex had hoped it would all be worth it.

“I didn’t get it before,” Maggie continued, “it seemed so abstract. I didn’t see myself as a mother, the thought of being responsible for keeping someone else alive, teaching them to be a good and decent person it just freaked me out.”

“What changed?” Alex asked softly, her fingers flexing against the fabric covering Maggie’s hips.

“I did,” Maggie smiled slightly. “Because of those kids. I won’t lie, the whole idea still scares me and I’m definitely not ready to have a kid of our own, but I know it will happen one day. Those kids reminded me why I never got along with my parents, why I was sure I’d be the same way with my own kids.”

“Why’s that?” Alex was honestly surprised they were having this conversation in the middle of the DEO, but Maggie seemed unbothered by it.

“My parents never accepted me, not completely. They loved me sure, but they never even tried to understand or accept me for who I am.” Maggie sighed with a slight shake of her head, looking over her shoulder at the door blocking the Runaways from view. “Those kids, that’s all they want. That’s what they need. Adults who accept them and support them, no matter what they look like, or what they enjoy or who they love. It’s what I wanted as a kid and never got.”

“I love you.” Alex said, pulling Maggie into another, much more chaste but no less passionate kiss. “You’re not you parents, Maggie, and I’m glad you can finally see that.”

“I love you, too.” Maggie kissed Alex again, unable to resist since they were still so close. “We’ll talk more later. I just wanted you to know.” Alex nodded and finally released her grip on Maggie’s hips.

“Right, I’ll be back in a few minutes. I know the Runaways are uncomfortable staying in the city too long.”

“We’ll be waiting.” Alex shot Maggie a smile before turning on her heel and walking down the hall. Maggie watched her go, a small fond smile gracing her lips as she turned to rejoin their little family.

 

 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?”

“Of course I want you to stay, Nico,” Karolina smiled at Nico’s shy smile, “but you need to rest and heal just as much as I do. This bed isn’t exactly big enough for two.”

“Didn’t seem to matter earlier.” Nico grumbled, twisting her fingers around in Karolina’s grasp. The couple had relocated to the sun room, Nico waiting for one of the others to come get her to head back to the Mansion. Karolina was staying the night at the DEO, under the sun lamps. She and Alex hoped that the solar radiation would speed up the healing process, especially if Karolina was powered up for most of the night, with the added bonus of restoring her energy. It seemed her powers were working overtime to heal the break in her arm, she looked more exhausted with each passing second. “What happened to feeling better when your close to me?”

“Still true,” Karolina maneuvered her fingers to wind through Nico’s, stopping her nervous fiddling. Karolina sat on the edge of the bed she’d be spending the night in, legs dangling over the side and Nico standing in front of her. “You need to rest, in a real bed. A sprained shoulder is still a pretty serious injury.”

“I know, you’re right.” Nico looked at her boot clad feet, “I just don’t want to leave you. Not after everything that happened today.”

“Hey,” Karolina used her grip on Nico’s hand to pull her closer. Nico stepped into the space between Karolina’s thighs and wrapped her good arm around Karolina’s waist after untangling their fingers. “I’m okay, Nico. You got me out of there, we’re safe.”

“ _Alex_ got you out of there.” Nico’s voice was slightly muffled from Karolina’s shirt. “I don’t even know what I did.”

“You kept them from following us. Don’t sell yourself short, Nico. We couldn’t have gotten out of there without you.” 

“Maybe we shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

“You don’t mean that, Nico.” Karolina rubbed Nico’s back soothingly. “We had to get the Staff.” Karolina’s eyes glance to the chair sitting beside the bed, where Nico’s clothes from earlier and the Staff are sitting along with Karolina’s own outfit.

“I mean, maybe you shouldn’t have been there. You or Alex.”

“Nico, there’s no way we would have let you go alone,”

“If you had, you wouldn’t be here,” Nico lifted her head from Karolina’s chest, reaching for Karolina’s cast covered hand, “You wouldn’t need to stay here under a sun lamp to heal.”

“We didn’t know this would happen,” Karolina’s arm shift beneath Nico’s grasp, the fingers of her good hand sliding to Nico’s hip. “There’s nothing we could have done, and if we hadn’t been there who knows what would have happened.” Karolina watched Nico closely, gaging her reaction. “It was a fucked up situation we should never have been in, all of this is, but we have to deal with it.”

Nico looked up sharply, partly because hearing Karolina cuss was as shocking as it was sexy, but also so she could read Karolina’s eyes, see the truth in her words. “And we have to deal with it together, otherwise we might never get through this.”

“El Myrrha, right?” Nico’s fingers twisted the fabric of Karolina’s shirt, pulling her marginally closer.

“Right.” Karolina kissed Nico’s nose which made her face scrunch adorably and Karolina smiled. “So stop worrying about this,” Karolina held up her broken arm, “go home, eat something, and get some rest. I’ll be back before you can miss me.” Nico highly doubted that, but she decided to simply pull Karolina into a kiss instead of voicing her disagreement. They parted when someone knocked on the door.

“We’re loading up, Nyx.” Lena poked her head into the room, surveying the young couple’s positions before offering them a coy smirk. “Finish kissing Rainbow good night so we can head out.”

“I’ll be right out,” Nico rolled her eyes when Lena winked at them before ducking back out of the room. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning?”

“Bright and early,” Karolina promised with a wide smile and tired eyes.

Nico brushed a stray bit of hair behind Karolina’s ear before cupping the back of her neck and pulling her in for another kiss. Karolina’s hand held the small of Nico’s back, pushing their bodies flush together. The separated slowly, Nico stepping back to grab her staff and both of their clothes from the chair.

“Good night, baby,” she said, leaning up to steal one last kiss, okay two, before making her way to the door.

“Good night, babe.” Karolina watched her leave, resettling on the bed and blowing Nico a kiss as she pulled the door closed. Karolina laid back after flipping the switch to turn the sun lamps on and removing her bracelet. Dimly glowing, she fell asleep only a few moments after Nico swept out of the room.

“Ready to go, Nyx?” Maggie asked as Nico approached the large group waiting in the main lobby of the DEO. Nico nodded, gratefully letting Alex take the bag with her and Karolina’s clothes in it when her offered his hand. “Let’s roll out then.”

They split into two vehicles again for the drive back to the Mansion, Maggie driving one and Lena the other since Alex stayed behind to work on paperwork, which was made in silence on Nico’s part as she let Alex, Molly, and Lena carry a mindless conversation for the duration. Once at the Mansion, Nico dutifully ate the sandwich and chips given to her by Kara before excusing herself to shower and get ready for bed.

Nico was surprised to find Alex waiting for her in her bed room after she emerged from the shower.

“I brought yours and Karo’s clothes,” Alex gestured to the bag sitting on the floor at his feet.

“Oh, right, thanks.” Nico offered him a smile, using a towel to dry her hair while she moved to sit on the bed next to Alex. Alex took a moment to observe this side of Nico, one he was never privy to see. Her face was absent her usual dark makeup, her hair wet and hanging loosely around her shoulder. She wore black shorts and colorful t-shirt that was very obviously Karolina’s, not just because of the colors but because it swamped Nico’s small frame and hung almost to the hem of her shorts. “I, um, I wanted to say thank you. For getting Karolina out of there.”

“You don’t have to think me, Nico. I guess all this weight lifting is paying off, huh?” Alex smiled warmly at her, pushing his glasses up his nose when they slipped slightly. “I know you and I haven’t been in the best place, and that’s my fault, but I wouldn’t have left her there. Not ever, but especially not when I know how much she means to you.”

“I’m sorry,” Nico threw her now wet towel into the basket in the corner. “I know it hasn’t been easy for you to watch Karolina and me.”

“Don’t apologize.” Alex shrugged as he continued, “I messed up and you were pissed at me, rightfully so. I know I should have told you what I knew about Amy, but I didn’t, and I had to pay the price. It was natural for you to move on.”

“Still, I know it must suck.”

“It did, at least at first. But I’ve had some time to come around to it. I’ve watched you fall for Karolina every day for over a month. At first, I was hurt, and angry that you wouldn’t give me a second chance. That’s why I kept lashing out, especially our first night in National City.” Nico nodded, remembering the argument the six of them had in the DEO after Karolina overworked her powers. “I felt like you were rubbing it in my face, seeing you guys holding hands and stealing kisses and generally being sickeningly cute. But, seeing how you are with her, how happy she makes you? I can’t be mad about that.”

“I guess it’s safe to say you and I were always better off as friends.” Nico nudged his shoulder with her own.

“You’re my best friend, Nico. You always will be, and I’ll always do what I can to make you happy, even carrying your injured girlfriend half a mile.”

“Please it was like half a block, maybe.” Nico smiled. “You’re my best friend, too, and I’m glad we’re finally back to that.”

“Me too,” Alex pulled Nico into a one-armed side-hug. “Now, it’s getting late and Karolina will kill me if I keep you from resting any longer.” Nico pinched his side with her good hand, adjusting her sling into a more comfortable position as Alex stood from the bed. “Maybe you can actually sleep without it looking like there’s a rave going on down here.”

“Shut up, asshole.” Nico groaned, turning around so Alex couldn’t see the blush coloring her cheeks. Alex’s laugh carried down the hall as he walked out, pulling the door closed behind him.

“It does not look like a rave,” Nico grumbled to herself as she pulled the duvet down and climbed beneath it on Karolina’s side of the bed. Besides, Karolina’s nightly light show wasn’t entirely Nico’s fault, at least that’s what Nico told herself. Karolina wanted to practice controlling her lights while engaging in activities that normally left her heart racing or adrenaline pumping through her body. It just so happens that making out with Nico was a great way to practice that control in non-battle circumstances, and Nico was more than willing to help anyway she could. Karolina had actually gotten fairly good at keeping herself from lighting up when she and Nico kissed, it was only when hands started to wander beneath clothes that Karolina would slip up. Nico didn’t mind. After all practice makes perfect, right?

Chuckling to herself, Nico curled into Karolina’s pillow. The scent of Karolina’s shampoo lingered on the pillowcase, mixed with something that Nico couldn’t name but inherently reminded her of her girlfriend. That, paired with Karolina’s shirt covering her torso, helped put Nico’s mind at ease enough to catch a few hours of sleep, however fitful they might have been.


	10. The Next Step

“I thought your arm was broken?” Karolina turned from her breakfast when Gert walked into the kitchen the next morning. Karolina had arrived at the Mansion ten minutes prior, still dressed in her DEO issued sweats and starving as she had fallen asleep before having anything to eat the night before. Lena had already been working on making breakfast and quickly fixed Karolina a stack on pancakes with a side of bacon and a bowl of fruit to go with it.

“It is.”

“What happened to your cast?” Gert took a seat opposite Karolina, pointing at her distinctly cast-free arm. She wore a simple black brace that covered most of her left forearm, from elbow to about halfway down her palm, leaving her fingers exposed but her thumb covered and immovable.

“I don’t need it anymore,” Karolina shrugged slightly, “I don’t know. I woke up and my arm just didn’t hurt anymore. Alex took some x-rays and the break from yesterday is almost completely healed. She said it’s closer to a hairline fracture now.”

“Who said what?” Nico stumbled into the room, still dressed in her sleep clothes and looking like she was barely awake. She still wore the sling Alex had outfitted her with the day before, though it sat slightly crooked across her body. Her expression brightened considerably when she noticed Karolina sitting at the table. “Karo, you’re back! Where’s your cast?” Nico took a seat on Karolina’s left, reaching across her own body to touch Karolina’s brace with her uninjured arm.

“I don’t need it, my arms almost completely healed.” Karolina set down her fork to brush her hand against Nico’s, gripping her fingers and leaning over to place a kiss on her forehead.

“What? How?” Karolina shrugged and Nico met her eyes, leaning forward slightly to press her lips against the corner of Karolina’s lips. “Good morning, by the way.”

“I’m not sure,” Karolina smiled, ignoring Gert’s gagging noises from the other side of the table, “Alex thinks it has something to do with my alien genes, since powering up sped up the healing process so much.”

“Were you powered up all night?” Gert asked curiously. “I mean, like could you sustain it that long?”

“I guess so, I was glowing when I fell asleep and when I woke up. I don’t know if I was doing it all night.”

“You were,” Maggie entered the kitchen, stealing a piece of bacon from the platter next to Lena on the kitchen counter and receiving a playful swat on her hand in return. “At least, that’s what Danvers said. She was there all night.”

“She was?” Karolina and Nico asked in tandem, surprised.

“Yeah, she said she didn’t want to leave you there alone. Just in case something happened. Didn’t want you to be alone.” Karolina nodded, smiling softly, and Nico felt a surge of affection for the adults taking care of them fill her being. She should have guessed that Alex wouldn’t leave Karolina alone, the agent had a protective streak a mile long, and they had spent almost an hour the day before discussing the fact they were a family now the day before. The Danvers women took care of their own, and the Runaways were included in that group.

“Is that why she looked ready to fall over when you guys got here?” Lena placed platters full of pancakes and bacon on the table between Karolina and Gert.

“She refused to sleep last night. She’s up in our room now, resting up a bit before we start training today.” Despite their original intention to spend all of their nights at their apartment in the city, Maggie and Alex had spent a good number of evenings sleeping at the Mansion, whether to help with extra training after dinner or just hang out with the kids in a non-combat focused way. The room next to Kara’s was unofficially set aside for Alex and Maggie.

“Training, right,” Nico looked down at her sling-wrapped arm sadly. There was no way she could train like normal. Her shoulder still had a throbbing ache, not as intense as the day before but still noticeably present.

“We’re not training today,” Karolina squeezed Nico’s hand gently before releasing her and continuing to eat. “Nico and I can’t, and we still need to talk about what we’re going to do now.”

“Okay, so no training today. Just heavy and depressing conversation. Joy.” Gert deadpans before biting into a strawberry, her eyes hard.

“What were you saying about mindset yesterday? Because I think you need to change yours Arsenic.” Kara swept into the room, dressed for work but without her glasses on and her hair falling in gentle waves around her shoulders instead of pulled into a bun or braid.

“I said ‘joy’ didn’t I?” Gert rolled her eyes.

Kara didn’t reply, simply moving to Lena’s side to get herself a cup of coffee. The group assembled in the kitchen shared a collective glance, amused and confused in equal amounts, when Kara brushed her hand against Lena’s, who proceeded to jump back as if shocked with a deep blush coloring her skin from her neck to the tips of her ears. Kara frowned at her reaction, grabbing her coffee and retreating to the table with a thoughtful frown gracing her lips. Lena cleared her throat awkwardly.

“Anyway,” Maggie continued after an uncomfortably long pause, during which Bruiser, Ratscrew, and Chase had entered the kitchen and started filling plates with food, “everyone eat up and we’ll meet up outside when we’re ready to start talking everything all over.”

“I’m going to do a quick sweep over the city and check in at CatCo,” Kara put her empty coffee mug in the kitchen sink. “I’ll be back in an hour or so,” she said before quickly leaving the Mansion without looking at Lena at all.

“What was all that about?” Chase asked softly, turning his head to whisper the words into Gert’s hair as she was leaning against his shoulder after finishing her own breakfast.

“No idea,” Gert shrugged, shifting and made herself comfortable against Chase before looking over at Karolina and Nico to find them smirking at her. “What?”

“When did you two figure out your shit?” Nico asked, gesturing between Gert and Chase with her fork.

“You do look pretty cozy over there,” Karolina remarked coyly.

“Yesterday,” Molly said at the same time as Gert, who tried to deny anything had changed. “I caught them making out in Chase’s workshop.”

“We were not making out!” Gert insisted, “Chase, tell them.”

“Well, I mean,” Chase sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as a dark blush colored his cheeks, “we kinda were.”

“Chase!” Gert slapped his arm lightly.

“What? You were literally in my lap and we were kissing.”

“They don’t need to know that!”

“Does that mean I win?” Nico asked suddenly, interrupting the argument and pulling Gert’s annoyed glare to herself instead of Chase.

“You were off by a week.” Karolina informed her, “you said it would be last week, I said it would be next week.”

“It’s a tie then,” Nico sighed softly, before her eyes lit up with mischief. “I guess that means we both have to pay up.”

“You were betting on us?” Gert asked, torn between amusement and annoyance.

“Duh,” Nico rolled her eyes, returning in kind when Gert flipped her off across the table.

“What did you bet?” Chase asked, clearly curious. Karolina coughed slightly, meeting Nico’s eyes before quickly looking away, a furious blush lighting her cheeks.

“Nothing special,” she said and picked up another piece of bacon to keep herself from saying anything else. Beside her, Nico shook with silent laughter.

“Never mind,” Chase shook his head looking thoroughly grossed out, “I don’t want to know.”

“I don’t think any of us do, Hotshot.” Alex spoke up, a small smirk on his lips.

“Oh, Alex, you think I’m hot?” Chase covered his chest with his hand, right over his heart. “I’m flattered but you’re not exactly my type.”

“Ass,” Alex punched his shoulder, “I was trying to give you a cool nickname like the rest of us.”

“Why Hotshot?” Molly asked, her nose scrunched up. “Wait, do you actually think Chase is hot?”

“Of course he does. Have you seen me?”

“The fistigons,” Alex ignored Chase’s comment, “I noticed the first time he used them that it gets pretty hot around us when they go off.”

“Yeah it does,” Chase nodded. “I had to use all flame-resistant materials. The energy discharge is so strong so fast, it’s like a mini lightning bolt.”   

“So, Hotshot,” Alex shrugged. “It’s not a great as Ratscrew, but…”

“Come _on,_ ” Molly scoffed. “Did anyone else get their nickname by leaving a bruise on the most powerful women alive? Nope. Just me. Bruiser is definitely the best.”

“I don’t know, I’ve got an appreciation for the classics,” Gert shrugged. “There’s just something about Arsenic that makes it special.”

“Except Arsenic isn’t a literal goddess, like Nyx.”

“I mean you’re pretty cool Nico, but I wouldn’t say you’re a goddess.” Chase stuck his tongue out at Nico when she flicked a grape at him. “I can appreciate the whole light and dark thing you two have got going on. Nyx and Rainbow.” Karolina and Nico smiled at one another.

“Still not as good as Arsenic and Old Lace.” Gert sing-songed lightly.

“O.L. is pretty great.” Alex conceded.

“At least someone here has some sense.”

Maggie chuckled from her place leaning against the door frame. The Runaways had been so involved in their conversation, none of them had noticed Lena slip out a few minutes ago. Maggie had followed after, lingering in the doorway for a moment to make sure things stayed civil between the teenagers before following Lena. It took Maggie a moment to find her, but she eventually stumbled across Lena in the small library tucked into the far back corner of the Mansion’s bottom floor.

“Lena?” Maggie asked when the other woman seemed to not notice her presence. She had never known Lena to not notice when someone entered a room she was in. Maggie suspected it was a result of the multiple attempts on Lena’s life she’s had to deal with, but she had the good grace not to mention it. “Is everything okay?”

“Of course,” Lena coughed, hoping her voice sounded stronger than she felt. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“Well, you just practically ran out of the kitchen instead of staying to listen to the kids’ banter, which you and I both know is very amusing.” Maggie took a cautious step closer. “And you sound like you’re about to cry.”

Lena doesn’t know how to react, to laugh or cry or scream at Maggie to leave her alone. She knows Maggie won’t go. They’ve spent every day of the last month and half together. Despite her generally hard to break down walls, Maggie and Alex, like Kara, had become close friends of Lena’s. It was impossible for them not too, despite Lena’s last name Alex and Maggie were so genuinely nice and real. Lena couldn’t help but befriend them. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s obviously something.” Maggie took a step, then another and another when it seemed clear Lena wasn’t going to stop her until she was right next to Lena. They stood at the window together, looking out over the front lawn where Old Lace was enthusiastically running after a stick Molly threw for her. “You don’t have to tell me, but I’m here for you. Whatever it is.”

“I-“ Lena hesitated, watching Molly chase Old Lace around the house and into the backyard. “I kissed Kara yesterday.” She blurted out before she could stop herself.

“Okay,” Maggie drew out the last syllable, “what happened?”

“We we’re just talking, she was trying to reassure me that everything would be okay. I couldn’t handle it, seeing Karolina and Nico like that, hurt and distraught and clinging to each other. I don’t know what it is about them but they’ve managed to awaken maternal instincts I didn’t even know I had.” Maggie could relate to that. “And seeing them like that, I thought it would break me. Especially knowing that it was their parents who did that to them.”

“But Kara, she calmed me down, just like she always does. She promised we’d be there for them, all of us, the next time they had to face their parents. She looked so earnest and her eyes were so blue and I just-“

“What did Kara do?” Maggie asked slowly after Lena cut herself off. Lena’s eyes were brimming with tears, happy or sad, or just plain overwhelmed with emotion Maggie couldn’t tell.

“She kissed me back.”

“Lena, that’s great,” Maggie couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face.

“Is it? I’m not really sure.” Lena’s voice sounded far away, like she was lost in her own mind. “Why would she kiss me back? She knows the history between our families. A Luthor and a Super. We could never work.” Her words sounded rehearsed, hollow, as if Lena had repeated them so often, they stopped meaning anything.

“You know Kara doesn’t care about your last name, Lena. None of us do.”

“I know.” Lena nodded slightly, a smile that didn’t look or feel real painted on her lips, “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where we go from here.”

“Have you talked to Kara about it?”

“No,” Lena swallowed thickly. “Kara tried to bring it up when we got home last night, but I was scared. I don’t know what she’s going to say, and I’m terrified it will be a rejection.”

Maggie highly doubted that, but she didn’t vocalize it. “Maybe you should just let her talk. She promised not to keep any secrets from you, right?” Maggie waited until Lena nodded before continuing. “Talk to her. I think you’ll be surprised by what she has to say.”

“There you are,” Alex entered the room, looking far more rested than she did when she and Maggie had arrived at the Mansion almost an hour before. “The Runaways are gathering in the yard, said they were waiting for you.”

“Guess they’re ready to start talking things over.” Maggie wrapped her arm around Alex’s waist once her fiancée was close enough, leaning up to press a short kiss to her cheek.

“Sooner than I expected honestly,” Alex noted. “I figured they’d want some more time to recover.”

“They don’t think they have time. Remember, the know when Jonah’s going to make his big move.” Lena reminded them as they started walking out. “They’ve got that weighing on them.”

“Are we sure their parents told the truth? Given what we know about them, that doesn’t seem very likely.”

“I think they did.” Lena’s voice changed, a hint of an emotion Alex couldn’t identify making her voice shake. “Despite what they’ve done, they seem to care for their kids, at least enough to try and get them away from danger.”

“We won’t know for sure until we get there.” Maggie interjected with a frown. “Still nothing from the DEO surveillance?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary.” Alex confirmed, “except Leslie Dean’s absence from the Gibborim church. She has been seen at PRIDE HQ, but she hasn’t been to the church in over a month. Whatever they’re working on, they’re doing it in a supremely secure location. Somewhere we can’t enter without just cause.” Alex frowned. “Unfortunately, six teenagers claiming their parents are evil isn’t something we can use for a warrant.”

“Too bad.” Maggie mumbled as the trio entered the backyard. The Runaways had assembled around the bench press. Nico and Karolina sat side by side on the bench, the others sitting in a semi-circle in front of them. Maggie could hear snippets of their conversation, teasing one another and joking about something. Despite their easy banter, Maggie could see the tension in their shoulders, the nerves in their posture. It reminded her of the night she and Alex found them in that abandoned warehouse. It felt like a life time ago, even though only a month and half had passed since that night.

“Should we wait for Kara?” Karolina asked as the three adults approached the group. Her and Nico’s hands rested on her thigh, fingers intertwined and Nico rubbing her thumb along the back of Karolina’s hand.

“I think so,” Gert said softly, “I don’t think we should leave anyone out of our planning sessions, or whatever this is.”

“Are you three doing okay?” Alex asked, looking at Karolina, Nico, and Alex in turn.

“Yeah, I mean, as good as I can be.” Ratscrew shrugged slightly. “So much happened yesterday, I can’t really process it.”

“I’ve been trying not to think about it,” Karolina murmured. Nico squeezed her hand. “It’s easier that way.”

“Nyx?” Alex asked after Nico remained silent, seeming to intend on not answering Alex’s questioned. “Are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Nico refused to meet anyone’s eyes and shifted in her seat uncomfortably. “I really don’t.”

“It’s okay to feel that way.” Lena moved to crouch between Alex and Nico, resting her hand on Nico’s arm both to help her balance and to offer comfort. “There’s no right way to feel about everything that’s happened, and everything that’s still coming. Whatever you feel right now, it’s okay. It’s normal.”

Nico nodded slightly, raising her head to meet Lena’s eyes. Lena offered a small, understanding smile. She figured Nico was feeling so many conflicting emotions, especially now, after the adrenaline from yesterday had faded and Nico didn’t have worrying about Karolina weighing on her mind. She had the night to process everything, as much as she could, and she had been alone for most of that time. Lena could only imagine what Nico was feeling, even if she had a better understanding that most adults would having been raised by neglected and borderline abusive parents herself. Lena squeezed Nico’s arm gently before standing up and returning to the other adults.

Alex, Maggie, and Lena integrated themselves into the conversation, which had been directed back to lighter topics, after Alex and Maggie pulled up chairs for the three of them.

“Please, _Super Trooper_ is clearly the best ABBA song.”

“Molls, nothing compares to the genius that is _Mamma Mia._ ”

“A song doesn’t have to inspire a move franchise to be great, Gert.” Alex rolled his eyes. “What about _Dancing Queen_?”

“You listen to ABBA?” Nico questioned with raised eyebrows.

“I have layers, Nico.”

“Oh my god, like Shrek?”

“I personally enjoy _Does Your Mother Know_ , but that’s just me.” Karolina ignored Chase’s Shrek comment. “Or _Why Did It Have to be Me._ ”

“I think they’re gonna use that one in Mamma Mia 2.” Maggie said, “I saw a clip of it somewhere.”

“We should totally have a movie night when that one comes out. We could watch both of them!”

“We’ll add it to the list, Bruiser.” Lena smiled at her. “I don’t think that one will be happening for a while, though. It won’t be out for another few months.”

“We still have The Greatest Showman and all the Harry Potter movies to get through first.” Nico reminded Molly, looking less than excited for either option. Karolina turned to Nico and winked at her, knowing that Nico had developed a secret love for movie musicals and that her distaste was purely meant to protect her reputation. Nico smiled back at her.

“Didn’t we say we might add TV shows in to our movie nights?” Chase asked, “I know someone said something about that.” Chase looked around, trying to remember who had suggested watching TV shows together after they made it through their list of movies. He wasn’t pretty sure it was one of the girls, but that didn’t narrow things down for him seeing as at least six women could be found in the Mansion at any given time. Chase frowned slightly, realizing he and Alex were hopelessly outnumbered.

“That would take a long time.” Alex said from her chair. “Especially if we watch something like Supernatural, or anything else that has more than four seasons.”

“It could be fun. We could watch like, _FRIENDS_. That one’s a classic.” Maggie suggested. “And it doesn’t take all that long to watch since the episodes are pretty short.”

“I have literally never heard of that show.” Molly laughed as the three adults released shocked gasps. “But that sounds good.”

“We’ll see what happens,” Lena’s voice changed slightly, “for now we have bigger things to focus on.”

Kara, hearing the change in Lena’s voice, knew she had been spotted and landed softly in the backyard. She had been hovering just out of sight, so she thought, and listening to the conversation below. Knowing that they were waiting for her before talking about anything serious, Kara had decided to stay out of sight for a little while. The Runaways so rarely got a chance to just be, to talk about things that didn’t really matter, and Kara didn’t want to take that away from them by forcing them into a serious conversation. Kara shouldn’t have been surprised that Lena knew she was there. They’d always had a sort of awareness of one another, Kara had never been able to sneak up on Lena.

“Anything happen on your sweep?” Maggie asked as Kara joined the kids on the ground instead of pulling up another chair.

“Got a cat out of a tree.” Kara said, continuing when Alex raised an eyebrow at her, “Yes, it was actually a cat this time.”

“Was it not a cat last time?” Nico asked, her voice falling somewhere between confused and amused.

“You’d be surprised what people name pet snakes.”

“Speaking of snakes,” Gert cleared her throat, both embarrassed and proud of her segway into the real topic of conversation, “our parents. Do we actually believe anything they said yesterday?”

“I think we have to,” Alex said, “at least partially.”

“He’s right,” Karolina agreed, “even if what they said about Jonah’s ship was a lie, we can’t dismiss it.”

“Even if Jonah did come here alone, getting the ship out will still trigger a giant earthquake.”

“That may or may not knock California into the ocean.” Nico reminded them. “We have to stop him.”

“Can we stop him?” Gert, ever the pessimist, asked. “I mean, last time we only got away because Karolina sacrificed herself.” Nico squeezed Karolina’s hand at the reminder. “Even then, we barely escaped.”

“Things are different now,” Karolina returned Nico’s squeeze with one of her own, “we had no idea what we we’re getting into last time. We’re more prepared now.”

“She’s right,” Chase nodded. “With Karo’s powers, the Staff and the Fistigons, we have a good chance of winning.”

“Don’t forget Molly,” Nico smiled at the youngest member of the team. “Now that she can use her powers without falling asleep right after, and she was no slouch before then.”

“And we aren’t alone this time.” Molly pointed out, looking over her shoulder at Alex, Maggie, Lena, and then to her left where Kara sat beside her.

“Right,” Nico nodded at Kara, “but powers and abilities don’t matter. Not yet, at least.”

“Before talking about all of that, we need to make a choice.” Karolina looked at each of her friends in turn. “Are we really going to fight against Jonah? Are you willing to go all in?”

“Don’t answer right away,” Kara said suddenly when Molly opened her mouth to respond. “Nico and Karolina are right, you have a decision to make here and it isn’t an easy choice. This is dangerous, you guys have already faced Jonah and lost, and payed the price for that. No one will be angry if you decide not to fight.”

The Runaways remained silent, contemplating what Kara said. They had faced Jonah and lost, and it nearly cost them Karolina. They had lost so much already, their parents, their homes. They lost the last years of their childhood, Molly more than anyone. Nico lost Amy.

“I’m fighting.” Karolina was the first to answer, which did not come as a surprise to any of the adults. “He’s already torn apart my family, I won’t lose anything else to him.” Karolina looked at Nico, “or anyone else.”

“We’re all fighting,” Nico spoke up several moments later, reading the expressions on her friend’s faces and seeing the determination there.

“Hell yeah we are.” Chase agreed quickly. “We’re a family remember? All of us.” He waved his arm in a wide circle, including his friends and the four adults in his statement. “We decided yesterday that this is what we are going to do. I haven’t changed my mind.”

“Me neither,” Gert turned her head as Old Lace approached the group from the garden, sitting behind her and Chase and resting her head on Gert’s shoulder. “O.L. is in, too.”

“Okay,” Alex nodded at the six teenagers. “If this is what you really want to do, we’ll help you however we can.” She rose from her chair. “I know you guys are ready to get started training again, but I need you to take the rest of the day off. Rest, relax as much as you can.”

“Where are you going?” Gert asked curiously as she stroked Old Lace’s snout.

“Kara and I are going to the DEO.”

“We are?” Kara corrected herself after her sister sent her a piercing glare. “We are.”

“We need to see if we have any new intel on your parents, if anything has changed now that Nico has the Staff.” Maggie eyed Alex, knowing there was something she had left out but not saying anything. The Runaways nodded and waved to Alex as she left. Kara got up a second later, leaning over and whispering something in Lena’s ear before taking to the sky again.

“So,” Alex said after a beat of silence. “Anyone up for Egyptian Ratscrew?”

“Not against you,” Gert scoffed as they began to get up and disperse. “There’s a reason we call you Ratscrew.”

“Oh come on, just one game.”

“What about Cards Against Humanity?” Chase suggested. “We could all use a laugh.”

“YES!” Molly cheered, looking at Gert with clear excitement written all over her face.

“Fine,” Gert agreed after poking her sister’s cheek. “You guys in?”

“Sure,” Nico shrugged slightly.

“You guys start without me,” Karolina said. “I’ll join up after I’ve had a shower. I smell like chlorine and the DEO.” Her nose crinkled in disgust as she looked at her rumbled sweatpants and t-shirt.

“Sounds good.” Lena and Maggie moved their chairs back to the porch like patio by the door as the Runaways headed inside.

“Alex is going to talk to J’onn about making this an official DEO operation, isn’t she?” Lena asked once she was sure the Runaways were out of earshot.

“I think so.” Maggie nodded. “Off the books, mostly for transportation and backup. Just in case things take a turn for the worse.”

“Do you think they will?”

“I’m not sure, based on what we know about their parents, I don’t think it will be any worse than it was yesterday. But we don’t know anything about Jonah, other than he’s related to Rainbow.” Maggie rubbed her hands on her jeans anxiously. “I’ve got to get to work but call me if anything happens.” Lena nodded, moving to the kitchen to clean up the breakfast dishes as Maggie continued through the rest of the Mansion to the front door. A chorus of ‘good-bye’ was shouted from the dinning room before the door closed.

 

“I thought you were going to play cards?” Karolina asked after Nico followed her up the stairs to their bedroom.

“I am, I just wanted to change out of my pajamas first.” Nico looked down at her clothes, blushing slightly when Karolina approached her and tugged lightly on the bottom of the shirt she wore.

“I thought I recognized this,” Karo said, leaning down to kiss Nico’s cheek and whisper in her ear, “you look good in my clothes.”

“I just wanted to feel close to you last night,” Nico admitted sheepishly, “I could barely sleep without you, but wearing this helped.”

“I’m glad,” Karolina slipped her arms around Nico’s waist, pulling her close. “How’s your arm?”

“It’s okay,” Nico’s words were mumbled against Karolina’s shoulder, “doesn’t really hurt anymore. I’ll check with Danvers tonight before taking off the sling.” Nico reached for Karolina’s arm, brushing a hand along her brace. “How long do you have to keep this on?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t really know how this whole accelerated healing thing works.” Karolina shrugged. “I’ll probably be okay by tonight.” Nico nodded against Karolina’s shoulder, feeling her arms flex around her and pulling her impossibly closer.

“I thought you were going to shower,” Nico said after Karolina held their embrace for a few moments longer than normal.

“I will,” Karolina rested her head against Nico’s. “Just, in a minute.” Nico pulled back slightly, looking up at Karolina.

“I’m really glad you’re okay.” Karolina smiled at her, leaning down and connecting their lips. Nico’s good arm rose so she could cup the back of Karolina’s neck with her hand. She pressed closer, feeling Karolina’s hand spread across the small of her back to hold her in place. This kiss was different than the one they shared the day before, at the DEO. That one was meant to comfort each other, to help one another breathe and process what had happened. This kiss was deeper, an expression of devotion to one another and relief that they were both safe and together in the same breath.

They stayed close together after pulling their lips apart, eyes closed and foreheads resting together. Karolina could feel Nico’s fingers twisting in her hair and couldn’t help the smile that spread across her lips. Nico kissed her again before pulling back completely.

“I’ll see you downstairs in a bit?” She asked while the two rummaged through their shared closet for something to wear that wasn’t pajamas or sweat pants.

“Of course.” Karolina kissed Nico’s nose once they were face to face again. “Don’t play the good cards until I get there.”

“I make no promises.” Nico chuckled, undoing the strap on her sling to take it off so she could change tops. “Go shower before I start complaining about how you smell.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Karolina teased but did as told after brushing her lips against Nico’s again. Nico watched her go with a fond smile, shaking herself out of her daze and changing into her chosen outfit after she heard the shower come on. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail but decided to not wear her usual makeup and left the room feeling much lighter than she had that morning.

 

Karolina joined the card game soon after Nico, wet hair pulled into a side braid and dressed comfortably in jeans and simple tank-top. She greeted Nico with a kiss as she sat down beside her, accepting the handful of cards Alex slid her way and easily integrating herself into the conversation. Lena listened from the kitchen where she was fixing a small lunch for everyone.

“I’m glad they’re relaxing,” Kara said as she entered. “I wasn’t sure they’d listen to Alex.” Lena wasn’t surprised by her presence.

“I’m not sure relaxing is what they’re doing,” Lena didn’t turn from the vegetables she was cutting, “more like distracting themselves.”

“Whatever works I guess.” Kara waited until Lena had set the knife she was using to chop vegetables back onto the counter before stepping closer. “Lena?”

Lena felt Kara coming closer, the hand placed gently on her arm. She turned, pausing as she caught sight of Kara. Kara wasn’t wearing her suit like Lena expected, instead she was dressed for her day job, just absent her glasses and with her hair down instead of half-up. “Lena, I know there’s something wrong. Please, talk to me.”

For a second, Lena hates how well Kara knows her. Kara’s been able to see right through Lena since they day they met, and it’s only gotten easier for Kara they better they’ve gotten know each other. Lena’s never been good at lying to Kara.

“It’s nothing.”

“I know that’s not true.” Kara takes a step back, her eyes widening slightly. “Is it me?” She looks so hurt, destroyed at the thought that she’s the one causing Lena any pain.

“No, Kara, of course not.” Lena can’t stop herself from closing the distance between the two of them, gripping Kara’s arms.

“Then what is it?” Kara’s hands clenched at her sides. “You’ve been distant since we got home last night. I can’t help but think that I did something wrong.”

“No, you didn’t. I promise, Kara.” Lena’s hands found Kara’s, uncurling her fingers and linking them together with her own. “If anyone did something wrong it’s me. I kissed you, after all.”

“Why would that be wrong?” Kara’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I kissed you back.”

“I know, I know you did.” The memory of Kara’s lips against hers had kept Lena awake for most of the night. “Kara, we can’t, this can’t change anything between us.” Her conversation with Maggie earlier rings in her ears, telling her to let things between her and Kara happen as they may but Lena can’t let go of her fear that she’s going to ruin anything.

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t be more than friends with you Kara. Not right now.” _Maybe not ever._

“I don’t understand, I thought we could – that you wanted too,” Kara cuts herself off, pulling her hand out of Lena’s and taking a step back. She swallows against the emotion in her throat, moving her hands out of the way when Lena tries to take them again.

“Kara, I’m sorry.” There’s so much more Lena wants to say, thousands of declarations balancing in the tip of her tongue. _You’re right. I want too. I want you, more than anything. But it isn’t that simple._ Lena can feel her heart breaking in tandem with Kara’s. “We can’t.” _I can’t. There’s too much at risk._

“Can’t or won’t?” Kara’s question is harsh, but her voice is the opposite. She’s fighting against the tears that want to fall from her eyes, a deep understanding brewing behind the blue of her eyes. “I know you, Lena. I know when you want something but you’re too afraid to reach for it.”

“Kara,” Lena breaks off, unsure what she even wanted to say. Kara’s back in her personal space, hands lifting to cup Lena’s cheeks as tears stream down her own. Lena wants to tell her that she is scared, and not brave enough to reach for what she wants. She wants to explain how she’s terrified to lose Kara, that thought of not having Kara in her life is worse than having Kara there, just out of reach. That she’s gained so much since she met Kara, more than Lena thought she deserved. That Lena’s terrified she’s going to lose her family and she can’t go through that again.

“I’m here, Lena. I’m not going anywhere.” Kara’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be here.”

The sob Lena can feel rising in her chest is silenced by Kara’s lips pressing gently against her forehead. Lena swallows thickly as Kara’s lips linger, her eyes falling shut and hands that desperately want to hold onto Kara and never let her go staying stationary at her sides.

“I promise.” Kara’s words are whispered against Lena’s skin before the pressure disappears.

When Lena opens her eyes, she’s alone in the kitchen. She can hear the laughter of the Runaways drifting in from the dining room. The back door is open, Lena catches a glimpse of Old Lace as she looks up from whatever she had been chasing through the bushes. Lena jumps slightly when she hears the sonic boom Kara releases as she flies away from the Mansion. The conversation in the dining room stalls, the teenagers wondering what made Kara rush off so quickly. They seem to shrug it off, Lena can hear Gert teasing Chase about a card. 

Lena returns to the meal she had been preparing, feeling as if the world was tilted sideways without the hope of things ever looking right again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Updates might be coming a little slower in the coming weeks as real life takes over all of my writing. I legit have nine papers due in the next two weeks plus just regular class work. I'll do my best to keep a regular update schedule and hope you can all bear with me. 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and leaving all of your wonderful comments. They really do make my day each time I read them. 
> 
> Have a great week and I'll see you all next time!
> 
> -Ambs


	11. Family Dynamics

 

“Okay, does anyone know what happened between Kara and Lena?” Gert asked softly as the Runaways gathered around the table in the Mansion’s backyard for a water break. They’d officially been training to face Jonah for three days, after taking a day off to recover from what happened in LA and the decision to face off against Jonah again. “They’ve been weird for days.”

“I have no idea,” Chase looked over Gert’s shoulder at the two women in question, who were standing on the other end of the yard with two feet of space between them, completely silent. “It’s weird right?”

“They’ve never been like this,” Nico remarked, moving her shoulder experimentally. Karolina sent her a concerned frown. Nico had only been cleared for training that morning, Alex wanted to make sure her shoulder was healed before letting Nico join the others. Thanks to Karolina’s speed healing abilities, she had been able to start training right away. “It’s almost like they…”

“Almost like they what?” Alex asked. Nico’s eyes had widened slightly, a smirk forming on her lips.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Nico pointedly ignored her friend’s stares by taking a long drink of her water. She caught Karolina’s eye as she set her bottle down, answering her unspoken question with a promise to tell her later. “We’re working with powers next, right?”

“Yeah,” Karolina took Nico’s hand and tangled their fingers together. “Kara said something about expecting rain later day, otherwise we’d wait until this evening after Kara does her last sweep of the city.”

“I think Lena’s excited to see what the Staff can do.” Alex noted, glancing over to where the Staff of One rested with Chase’s Fistigons on one of the chairs. “As a scientist, I bet her curiosity is driving her up the wall.”

“Except it’s not science. It’s magic.”

“Magic isn’t real, Nico.”

“Yeah, well aliens aren’t supposed to be real either, and I sleep with one of those every night.”

“That explains the lights,” Gert mumbled softly as Karolina blushed at the implications of Nico’s statement.

“TMI, dude.” Alex coughed. “I know we’re good and best friends and all, but I draw the line at hearing about your sex life.” He added a repulsed shiver for dramatic effect.

“It’s not like we can’t all see it.” Chase said, already bracing himself for the elbow to the side he’s going to receive from Gert when he continues, “Karolina’s not exactly subtle when she’s powered up. I’ve always assumed the brighter the lights, the more fun they’re having.”

“Think about their sex life a lot, do you?” Gert smiled satisfied when Chase winced from her elbow impacting his ribs.

“Hard to avoid when it looks like there’s a rave going on at the end of the hall every night.”

“Is that what you guys are doing down there?” Molly asked, receiving a mortified gasp from Karolina. “I guess that’s why you chose the room farthest away from all of us.”

“Okay, I don’t know what you guys are talking about, but I think you should stop before Rainbow over there spontaneously combusts.” Maggie’s voice interrupted the conversation as she and Alex entered the backyard.

As one, the Runaways turned their heads to look at the obviously flustered Karolina who refused to look any of them in the eyes.

“Aw, babe,” Nico pulled her closer by their joined hands. Karolina felt Nico lean against her and wrapped an arm around her waist, still looking away from the group. Nico stifled her laugh against Karolina’s shoulder. She loved it when Karolina got all flustered, especially when she was powered up and the lights around her face would grow brighter with her embarrassment. As if she could feel Karolina’s eyes on her, Old Lace lifted her head and moved her tail in the dinosaur’s approximation of a wave.

“How bright do you think she’d be glowing if she wasn’t wearing her bracelet?” Gert whispered to Chase. Chase took a moment to observe Karolina’s full-face blush before answering.

“Still not as bright as behind closed doors.”

“I heard that, asshole.” Karolina flipped Chase off as her skin tone finally returned to normal. Nico sent the group a short glare that silently told them to back off. She knew the teasing was all in good fun but she didn’t want anyone to take it too far, especially since she and Karolina hadn’t gotten any further than taking shirts off and skirting beneath bras. “Anyway, since Alex and Maggie are here, I guess we’re stopping for lunch now.”

“Great, I’m starving.” Molly wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

“You guys head into the kitchen, I’ll get Kara and Lena,” Alex directed the kids into the kitchen with Maggie as she walked over to her sister.

“Do you know what happened between them?” Chase asked Maggie as they walked.

“Who said anything happened?” Maggie evaded the question, but she had a feeling she wouldn’t get away with that for long.

“No one, it’s just something we noticed. They’ve been weird for a few days now. Not really talking and Kara keeps bolting out of here after we leave her with Lena, like she doesn’t want to be alone around her.”

“Maybe they had an argument.” Karolina suggested. “Friends fight all the time. It’s normal.”

“You don’t think it’s about us, do you? Did we do something wrong?”

“No, absolutely not.” Maggie’s tone left no room for argument, but the Runaways still looked worried. “Bruiser, I promise. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Are you sure?” Chase asked nervously. He had picked up on the tension between Kara and Lena, how they were trying to act like nothing was wrong and walking on eggshells around one another. Chase hated to admit it, but the atmosphere was similar to how it felt when he was with his parents, when he and his mom were trying their best to not set Victor off.

“I’m positive.” Maggie saw how troubled the kids were, especially the nervous lilt in Chase’s voice that told Maggie there was something Chase was hiding, and made a silent vow to talk to Kara and Lena. The teenagers didn’t need to suffer because Kara and Lena couldn’t figure their shit out. “Now, Danvers and I brought pizza for lunch. Thought you guys could use a break from sandwiches.”

“Yes!” Molly cheered and made a beeline for the large stack of pizza boxes sitting on the island in the kitchen. Maggie chuckled and settled in a chair at the table towards the back of the kitchen to wait for her turn at the pizza buffet. Karolina grabbed plates for everyone and set the remaining plates down next to the first box once the other five teenagers had theirs.

“Yes, pizza!” Kara echoed Molly’s cheer as she entered the kitchen with her sister and Lena. Kara started to move towards the pizza, stopped, and then gestured for the other three women to go before her. Kara had gotten in the habit of serving herself last, since she needed so much more food than everyone else – although Karolina came closer and closer the more she used her powers, same with Molly. Plates stacked high with pizza, the large group moved into the dining room and claimed seats around the table.

Conversation flowed easily through the group, moving from one topic to another and back with a kind of ease and comfort that can only come from spending lots of time together. There’s occasionally breaks in the flow when two or three people carry on with one conversation while the rest of the table moves on to another. Bits of cheese and crust are flicked across the table in response to a teasing remark and the whole table groans at every cheesy comment made. Gert pretends to gag when Nico steals a kiss from Karolina, Nico returns the favor when Chase kisses Gert’s cheek. Molly and Alex roll their eyes at both couples and keep talking about video games. The four adults at the table try to keep too much food from being thrown and discuss Maggie and Alex’s upcoming wedding. It’s unlike anything Lena had ever experienced until these six kids came into her life, in the best way, but she can’t really enjoy it. She knows the smile she has painted across her lips doesn’t reach her eyes and she prays no one has noticed. Maggie catches her eye, and Lena knows she’s caught from the look in her eyes.

“Lena, Kara can I talk to you for a sec? We should discuss how power training is going to go today since we have to test Nico.” Maggie watches as Kara and Lena stand from the table, directing them into the kitchen with a wave of her hand. Alex looks at her fiancée curiously, but Maggie doesn’t say anything.

“Mags?” Alex asks when Maggie turns to leave as well. Maggie turns back to her and shakes her head slightly, indicating that Alex should stay with the kids. Alex frowns but doesn’t make a move to get out of her seat. Instead she turns back to the Runaways and tries to get the conversation back on track. 

“Outside, now.” Maggie can see that both Kara and Lena are confused at the tone she uses with them, but Maggie can’t find it in herself to care. She pointedly raises her eyebrows when neither woman makes an effort to leave the kitchen which prompts them to move. Maggie doesn’t want to have this conversation where they can be overheard. 

“Maggie, what’s going on?” Kara asks, her tone matching the one Maggie had used before. Kara’s never been fond of taking orders from anyone other than her sister, especially when such hostility seems to come out of the blue. 

“Don’t.” Maggie holds her hand up to stop Kara from speaking. “I don’t care what you have to say. There’s something we need to talk about and both of you are going to shut up and listen to me. Don’t try it, Kara.” Maggie crosses her arms over her chest and glares at Kara when she opens her mouth to speak. 

“What’s this about?” Lena asks in a plactating tone. She doesn’t appreciate Maggie’s tone either, but she knows her well enough to know she wouldn’t have pulled them all the way outside if it wasn’t important. 

“This is about the Runaways, and the two of you,” Maggie waits for a second to gauge their reactions before continuing. “I don’t know what happened between the two of you, but I know that something did. Don’t try to deny it. You two have been walking on eggshells around each other since we brought Karolina home from the DEO. Normally, I wouldn’t care. You’re adults and you can figure your own shit out in your own time.”

Maggie can see the question forming in Lena’s eyes and continues before she can voice it, “but whatever happened between you, whatever is causing this issue, it’s affecting the kids. They know you’re being weird around each other and it’s making them nervous. They think you’re fighting about them. Molly asked me if they had done something wrong.” 

“Of course not! Why would they think that?” Kara looks appalled at the notion of any of those kids thinking she or Lena are upset with them. 

“Because they came here already confused and emotional about the adults in their lives, and now you guys might be acting the same way?” The question is rhetorical and Maggie continues before Lena or Kara can speak. “You saw how scared they were when they got here. Don’t you remember how they didn’t want to trust us? Karolina was so scared she lost control of her powers and almost hurt herself. Nico and Alex were constantly at each other’s throats, Gert had several anxiety attacks our first few days here, and Molly was scared to sleep alone for the first two weeks. Don’t even get me started on Chase flinching away from Kara when he broke a coffee mug. Do I need to remind you that we decided to wait to bring Winn here or even tell James about the Runaways for more than just safety reasons?” 

“I know you’re not doing it intentionally, but you’re hurting these kids. And I know that’s the last thing either of you want to do.” Maggie uncrossed her arms and took a deep breath. “We promised to help them, and we can’t do that if they don’t trust us. They’re already terrified and they have the weight of the world on their shoulders. They don’t need to worry about whatever is going between the two of you on top of everything else.” 

“Maggie, we…” Kara trailed off, unsure how to continue as she and Lena made eye contact for the first time in days. “We had no idea. We’re sorry.” 

“I’m not the one you need to apologize too.” Maggie shook her head. “And they don’t want to hear it unless you truly mean it. I don’t care how long it takes, but don’t come back inside until the two of you have come to some sort of understanding. You don’t have to work everything out, but you can’t bring this tense atmosphere around the kids.” Maggie entered the Mansion, leaving Kara and Lena in the backyard in stunned silence. 

“She’s right,” Lena said softly after a silence that lingered uncomfortably around them. She hated this disconnect between her and Kara, and she hated even more that it was her fault. If only she was braver, brave enough to love Kara the way she so desperately wanted to. Brave enough to risk this new family that she didn’t know was possible, risk the walls around her heart crashing down under the weight of happily ever after. 

“I know.” Kara agrees as she watches the emotion play out in Lena’s eyes. She sees the heartbreak there, the fear and the longing all of which Kara knows are mirrored in her own eyes. “Lena,” Kara reaches for her hand slowly, not certain that Lena will let her take it. She’s surprised and pleased when Lena’s fingers curl around her own. 

“It’s my fault, Kara. It’s all my fault.” Lena can feel the tears filling her eyes but she doesn’t have the will to blink them away. She feels Kara’s thumb rub against her knuckles. 

“It’s our fault, both of us.” Kara sighed, “mine, really. I said I understood that you didn’t want this to go anywhere, and I do. I didn’t want you to feel like I was pressuring you into being with you when you don’t want too. I - I wasn’t sure where the line was so I decided to draw it myself, in the wrong place evidently.” 

“It’s not that I don’t want to be with you, Kara.” Lena shook her head as she squeezed Kara’s hand. Taking a deep breath, Lena led Kara to the bench they had placed next to the sparring mats and they both sat. Lena angled her body to face Kara, their knees touching and hands still locked together. 

“Then what is it?” Kara’s face was honest and open, just as it had always been when Lena looked at her. It was part of why Lena couldn’t look her in the eye last few days, she couldn’t bear to see such tenderness in Kara’s eyes while denying herself the chance to be with Kara. 

“It’s that I do want to be with you, Kara, more than anything. This, what we have here,” Lena gestures vaguely around them, “it feels like a dream come true. This is the family I always wanted but that I know I don’t deserve.” 

“Wait, why would you not deserve a family?” Kara asks, but fears she already knows the answer. 

“What do I have to pass on but a life full of lies a deceit? A legacy of hate and a home built on manipulation, that’s what comes from loving a Luthor. Why would I be any different?” Not for the first time, Kara curses Lillian Luthor for poisoning the mind of the woman sitting beside her. Lena looks away from Kara and lets go of her hand. 

“Lena,” Kara shifts so she’s straddling the bench with one hand on Lena’s back and the other on her thigh, “you are so different. You’re so much more than a Luthor. Look at everything you’ve done!” 

“I haven’t done anything.” 

“Lena you have saved the entire alien population of National City, not to mention the literal world. You gave six helpless kids a place to stay and food to eat and clothes to wear. You donate billions of dollars to children’s hospitals and cancer research. You trusted me and let me stay here even after I lied to you for an entire year.” Kara waited for some kind of reaction from Lena and, when none came, lifted her hand to cup Lena’s face so she could look in her eyes. “Lena, you are open and loving and have the biggest heart of anyone I know. You deserve to be loved.” 

“No, Kara, I don’t.” 

“If you don’t believe me, ask the kids.” Kara stated. “They know what it feels like to be around adults that they aren’t sure really care for them, and I can guarantee they have never felt that way when you’re around.” 

“I’m so scared, Kara. If something happens, if something goes wrong, I’ll lose everything.” Lena closed her eyes as Kara’s thumb brushed across her cheek, gently wiping her tears away. 

“You won’t lose anything, certainly not me.” Kara assured her. “I’m not going anywhere Lena, I promise and I won’t give up this family without a fight. I don’t care who or what tries to come between us. This is the family life I had to give up when I left Krypton. I won’t give it up again.” 

“It won’t be easy,” Lena says softly and Kara can’t help but smile. 

“No, but nothing that’s worth it ever is.” Kara strokes Lena’s cheek. “I want this, Lena, I want you. Even when things get tough and we have bad days. I want everything with you Lena, and I can wait until you’re ready for everything too.” 

For the second time, Lena lurches forward and presses her lips against Kara’s, harder than she did at the DEO, desperate but soft. Kara kisses back, using the hand on Lena’s back to bring her closer. Lena tangles her fingers in Kara’s hair, stroking behind her ear when they separate and rest their foreheads together. 

“I want everything, too.” 

~

Maggie was happy to see conversation had returned to normal when she returned to the dining room. Ratscrew was trying to convince the other kids to add Star Wars to their ever-growing list of movies to watch, with some success. Molly didn’t get why they had to start with the fourth movie. 

“Because it’s the first movie, Molls.” 

“But it’s episode four. I haven’t even seen it and this series already makes no sense.” 

“You’ve never seen Star Wars?” Chase asked, clearly surprised. 

“Neither has Rainbow.”

“Yeah, well, she grew up in a cult so we won’t hold it against her.” Gert smiled playfully when Karo flicked a piece of crust at her. “But I know I’ve watched Star Wars with you before.” 

“Maybe she fell asleep,” Nico shrugged slightly as she shifted in her seat to lean further into Karolina, using their joined hands to wrap Karolina’s arm around her shoulders and resting her head on Karo’s shoulder. Karolina smiled slightly and kissed the top of Nico’s head. 

“So not only does it make no sense, it’s boring too.” Molly cheered, clearly thinking the argument over as Alex groaned, his head dropping onto the table with a loud thunk. 

“Just wait until we watch Harry Potter and they start debating Hogwarts houses.” Maggie whispered in her fiance's ear as she reclaimed her seat. Alex turned to her as she snorted a laugh. 

“Everything okay?” She kept her voice low so the kids wouldn’t notice. 

“They’re working on it.” Maggie swooped in and stole a kiss. “Don’t worry.” 

“You know, it’s super hot when you get all protective.” Alex whispered with a wink, chuckling against Maggie’s mouth as they kissed again. They only broke apart when the Runaways noticed them and started making a range of sounds, from fake retching to groans to coos, all directed at the engaged couple. 

“I’m going to start throwing things at people making out around me.” Molly proclaimed loudly. 

“I’ll help.” Wilder agreed as the rest of the table laughed. 

“We should probably clean up. Kara wanted to work with our powers before the storm hit.” Karolina said, untangling her fingers from Nicos to gather up their plates. Nico grumbled as her pillow moved away but dutifully stood to help clean up. The others joined and the teasing conversation moved into the kitchen, where flicking bits of food at one another became Chase and Alex using a pizza box as a frisbee while Gert flicked water at anyone who put more dishes in the sink. 

“Chase! Get over here and help! I’m not doing the dished just because I’m a woman.” 

“Yes, dear.” Chase called, tossing the pizza box to Karolina as he moved over to his girlfriend. They continued in the same manner until Karolina missed the box thrown her way because she was looking out the backdoor. 

“Babe?” Nico came up behind her and peaked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. “Oh my god.” 

“What? What’s going on?” Gert asked as she joined the girls with Chase close on her heels. “Molly, are you ready to throw something at people making out?” 

“Who’s making out?” Molly asked, seeing all couples in the house currently standing close together but thankfully keeping the PDA to minimum. 

“Kara and Lena.” 

“What?” Alex rushed over the kids and looked out the door only to see her sister and Lena sitting on the bench next to the mats, lips locked together. “Someone please throw something at them.” 

“Wait, hold on a second.” Gert closed her eyes for a moment, searching for her link with Old Lace. Feeling her companion agree with her plan and get into position, Gert motioned for her sister to come closer. Karolina silently pulled the door open as Molly stepped up, pizza box in one hand and awaiting her sister’s signal. “LACE, FETCH!”

Lena pulled away from Kara as she heard Gert’s yell, turing to see Molly, eyes glowing, hurl a pizza box directly at them. Kara stood from the bench and caught the box in one hand. 

“What is happ - oof!” Kara’s sentence was cut off as Old Lace came barreling out of the garden behind the bench, leaping over the wooden platform and gracefully tackling Kara without hitting Lena at all. “Gert, call her off!” Kara called out over the laughter of everyone else as Old Lace proceeded to lap at Kara’s face like an overgrown, scaly, golden retriever. 

“Good girl, Lace!” Gert cheered, telling Lace to let Kara go whenever she wanted. Lace continued to lick at Kara’s face but allowed the Kryptonian to push her off of her body. Kara huffed as she climbed to her knees, laughing as Lace rolled over like a puppy wanting a belly rub. 

“Yeah, good girl, Lace,” Kara chuckled, looking up at Lena. “You okay?” 

“I’m perfect.” Lena smiled back as the rest of the family walked over. 

“So,” Molly started as Kara offered Lena her hand once she was done petting Lace, “is this officially happening?” 

“Yeah, it is.” Lena answered, squeezing Kara’s hand. 

“Does that mean I win?” Chase asked with a shit-eating grin. 

“What’s today’s date?” Karolina asked, frowning when Maggie answered. “You weren’t exactly on but you’re closer than the rest of us.” 

“So I do win,” Chase smirked, “no more dishes for me.” 

“Lace, get him!” Everyone laughed as Old Lace obediently chased Chase through the garden until he managed to distract her with an indestructible frisbee. 

~

There was noticeably less tension in the air once they started training again, and noticeably more heart eyes, and all the kids breathed a sigh of relief. Kara and Lena apologized for making them feel uncomfortable and promised that they had never been upset with them. Molly repeated her threat to throw something at any couple she caught making out, Alex again offering his assistance, before they finally got back to work. 

“Okay, Nico, let’s see what this thing can do,” Lena directed Nico to extend the Staff and watched closely as it activated. “You said it’s blood activated?” 

“It pricks my finger every time I use it.” Nico supplied, holding the Staff of One out from her body so Lena could see it. 

“May I?” 

“I’m actually not sure,” Nico continued after seeing Lena’s curious frown, “Ratscrew tried to grab it from me once and it burned him. I’m not sure it likes it when other people touch it.” 

“Okay,” Lena blinked, “so what have you been able to do with it?” 

“I made it snow in my mom’s office the first time I used it, but I don’t know how.” 

“What was happening at the time?” Lena asked. 

“I was looking for something and I found a snowflake, you know, like the ones kids make by cutting shapes out of paper. It was one that Amy had made, years ago.” Nico’s eyes took on a glazed quality as she thought back to that day. Her joy of finding Amy’s diary, her sorrow as she remembered all that she had lost, and the melancholy feeling of looking back on the good times she shared with her sister knowing there would never be another. 

Lena watched as the black ring perched atop the Staff started to glow golden, a faint buzzing noise reaching her ears. Nico appeared to have not noticed, her eyes still looking far away, as small flurries of white landed in her and Lena’s shoulders. Lena watched, transfixed, as snow fell from seemingly nowhere and covered the ground around them in neat circle. 

“Nico?” She questioned softly and watched closely for any change to the Staff of the snow around them. 

“What? Sorry,” Nico apologized as she came back to the present, “I did it again?” 

“It looks that way.” Lena smiled at her reassuringly. “You said before that Tina worked with you a little. What did she say?” 

“Not much, really, just the Staff is powerful and I could do great things with it if I can control it.” Nico shrugged. “She told me I could make anything I want happen, so I made it so she couldn’t speak.” 

“Nicely done,” Lena chuckled lightly. “So it reacts to what you’re feeling? Or thinking about?” 

“I guess so,” Nico frowned thoughtfully as she recalled the events that transpired in LA four days ago. “My mom used commands, verbal ones. That’s how she made the pool freeze over.” 

“Have you tried any of those?” Lena nodded when Nico indicated that she hadn’t. “Ratscrew said you used it in LA to help you guys escape.” 

“I made them freeze in place, all of our parents, but I don’t know how. I don’t remember saying or thinking anything like that.” 

“Okay, don’t worry,” Lena touched her shoulder reassuringly. “The great thing about science is we can test it. We’ll figure out how the Staff works, Nico, I promise.” 

“Even though it’s magic and not science?” Nico smirked. 

Lena shrugged, “magic is just science we can’t explain.” Lena looked up to the sky, watching the great dark clouds in the distance inch closer. “We still have some time, let’s test verbal commands.” 

“Great. How?” 

“First, do you think you can make it stop snowing?” 

“Oh, uh…” Nico looked at the half-inch of snow that had gathered around them. “Stop snowing!” The Staff pulsed once in her hand and the snow stopped falling at the same time the Staff stopped glowing.  “Now what?” 

“Well…” Lena hummed and then let out a sharp whistle. Around the backyard, the others paused in their movements. Molly and Wilder looked up from where they were discussing adding more weight to Molly’s bench press, Maggie and Danvers paused in their efforts to show Gert how to flip someone over their shoulder, Karolina dropped down from the pull up bar next to Chase who had been counting her reps for her and Kara handed her the tank top Karolina had discarded earlier when she had done crunches hanging upside down. They all looked at Lena expectantly. 

“We’re gonna test Nico’s Staff, so let’s make some room.” Lena directed the group to move out the way, just in case. She didn’t expect the Staff to react badly to what she had planned, but it was better safe than sorry. Considering they were dealing with an unknown possibly mystical item with what could possibly be unlimited power, Lena felt it was appropriate to err of the side of caution. “Bruiser, can you grab some empty pizza boxes for me?” 

“What are we doing?” Nico asked, making a conscious effort to keep focused on the task at hand and not on the still shirtless Karolina making her way over to them. 

“Field test,” Lena answered, “you stopped your parents from moving without using a command, so we’re going to see if you can do the same verbally. Thanks, Molls.” Lena asked Molly if she’d like to throw the boxes for Nico to freeze, since she seemed to enjoy throwing things so much. 

“Let’s do this.” Molly agreed easily and stepped up, box in hand, awaiting the signal from Lena. 

Lena made sure the group was assembled behind her, Nico and Molly before signaling for Molly to toss the box.

“Freeze!” Nico commanded as the box soared through the air. It landed with a dull thunk. Lena looked at the ring of the Staff, noting that it was no longer glowing. “Well, that was exciting.” Nico deadpanned but Lena could hear the disappointment in her voice. 

“That’s why we have more than one box. Try again.” Nico did so, same result. Nico shoulders tensed and she clenched her jaw at her second failure. Karolina looked like she wanted to move closer to Nico, but Kara stopped her after seeing Lena shake her head. “One more time. Don’t think, just feel.” 

Nico closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could hear the wind pick up as the storm moved closer. She could feel Karolina’s presence, a hair closer than the rest of the group, behind her. Karolina reminded her of what happened the last time Nico tried to use the Staff, the sound of Karolina’s arm snapping in half and her pain-filled whimpers. Nico never wanted to hear that again. 

Steeling herself, Nico opened her eyes and nodded to Lena. Molly threw the box in the air. 

“STOP!” The Staff lit up at Nico’s command and the box froze in mid-air, immovable even in the rising winds. A cheer rose up from behind Nico and she couldn’t help but feel a little bit of pride. She hadn’t done anything impressive, it was just a pizza box, but her family cheered her on anyway. 

“Great job,” Lena told her, pulling Nico into a hug which Nico returned warmly. They’d come so far in such little time. 

“Thank you.” Nico said into Lena’s ear, her tone giving away more than the words. Lena nodded and squeezed Nico again before releasing her. 

“Still say magic doesn’t exist, Wilder?” Nico turned to her friends with a wide smile. 

“Bite me, Nyx.” Alex rolled his eyes at his best friend and then frowned as the wind picked up again. 

“I think we should head inside before the rain hits.” Maggie said, a rumble of thunder in the distance echoing her sentiment. The group voiced their agreement and started to head for the door until only Nico and Karolina remained in the backyard. 

Nico looked up at the still frozen pizza box, her smile growing wider as familiar arms slipped around her waist and pulled her into a warm, slightly sweaty body. Karolina kissed her temple softly. 

“You okay?” 

Nico hummed in response, turning in the circle of Karolina’s arms and lifting one hand to grip Karolina’s waist. “Yeah, just kinda proud of myself, for getting the Staff to work.” 

“You should be,” Karolina kissed her nose, “I’m proud of you.” Nico smiled against Karolina’s lips as they pressed against her own. Her ears registered another rumble of thunder, louder than the last one and indicating that the storm would start at any moment but Nico didn’t care. She had Karolina in her arms, safe and sound. Her family was waiting for them in the house. They were one step closer to stopping Jonah. 

Karolina pulled back as the rain started to fall around them, laughing as she tipped her head back and the water splashed against her skin. Nico could feel the three words she desperately wanted to say burning the tip of her tongue with the desire to be said. She almost said them, had just started to open her mouth when an extraordinary thunderclap shook her to the core as the bottom dropped out of the storm. They were both soaked in seconds, Karolina giggling as Nico’s makeup smeared slightly under the heavy torrent. 

“We should probably head inside.” Karolina said, kissing Nico again before ending their embrace and reaching for Nico’s hand. Nico powered the Staff down, the pizza box getting lost in the wind as the spell ended and allowed Kara to lead her inside. 

“You two look like a pair of drowned rats.” Maggie laughed as the young couple entered the kitchen, soaking wet but looking happier than they had in awhile. “Go change before you make an even bigger puddle. We’ll start Harry Potter when you get back.” 

Karolina and Nico walked out of the kitchen hand in hand as Maggie turned back to making enough popcorn for six teenagers, three adults and a Kryptonian. Laughing to herself, Maggie figured Karolina and Nico would be changed and settled in the den with the others long before she finished the popcorn. 

“What’s so funny?” Alex asked as she joined Maggie after helping Lena and the kids pull out extra blankets and pillows for their semi-impromptu movie day. Alex wrapped her arms around Maggie’s waist from behind, pressing a kiss to her shoulder. 

“Nothing, just thinking about how much popcorn we have to make.” 

“You know,” Alex hummed, “there are ways to pass time while the popcorn cooks.” She punctuated her statement with a kiss behind Maggie’s ear, in a spot Alex knew made Maggie weak at the knees. 

“That there are,” Maggie turned her head and connected their lips. She felt Alex’s smile as she kissed back, gently holding her waist. “I love you.” 

“I love you.” 

~

Karolina and Nico joined the others in the living room several minutes before Alex and Maggie came in with the popcorn, snuggling up together on of several large bean bags Lena had purchased for their movie nights. Chase tossed them a blanket before settling back into the bean bag he shared with Gert. Molly had claimed the third bean bag for herself so Wilder took one of the three couches in the room. 

Kara and Lena curled together on the second couch, feeling strangely shy. It wasn’t the first time they had cuddled together for a movie, but it was the first time they did so as a couple. Kara found herself wondering where she should put her hands until Lena solved the problem by maneuvering Kara’s arm to wrap around her shoulders, lacing their fingers together and resting them against her stomach.  

Once Maggie and Alex finished passing out popcorn they settled on third couch, Maggie using Alex’s thigh as a pillow while her fiance played with her hair as the movie began. Maggie made herself comfortable, knowing that if Alex kept playing with her hair she would fall asleep soon. 

They watched the movie in almost silence, only breaking when Molly threw kernels of popcorn at any couple she felt was getting a little to comfortable during the movie. To no one’s surprise, Gert and Chase had the most popcorn thrown at them, at least until Nico gently nipped Karolina’s neck, her squeal and resulting blush making her skin glow, literally. They had to pause the movie to get their laughter under control. 

They settle down after that and watch the movie without any more interruptions. It reminds Nico so much of the life she had before Amy passed. When a PRIDE meeting meant seeing her friends without having to worry about parental supervision, not witnessing a murder. The life she wants back, the easy friendship and family she lost with the death of her sister. Not for the first time, Nico realizes how much she cares about the other people in the room, and vows to do everything in her power to make sure they never lose each other again. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, sorry for the delay on this chapter. I can't really say when the next update will be but I'll try my best to get it up soon. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading and leaving your wonderful comments. I don't have time to respond to every comment but please know they all mean to the world to me. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~Ambs


	12. Worries of the Heart Part 1

It was hopeless to try and distract himself, Chase knew, but he had to try. He couldn’t stay still, knees bouncing with nervous energy, running a hand through his hair constantly. He didn’t even care about messing his hair up, he just needed to feel something, something other than the weight of what he and friends, his family, are up against. It’s impossible to escape it, carrying the weight on his back like a new bookbag, stiff and uncomfortable and never sitting perfectly along his shoulders. It feels like the uncomfortable warmth of his father’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing just tight enough to hurt. 

Chase tries to escape the pressure the only way he knows how, tinkering with his Fistagons. There’s not much left that Chase can actually fix on his current Fistagons, not after he’s spent hours every night for the past week and a half down in his workshop with them. He’s secured the wiring, tried to minimize the discharge they give off, re-fitted the cuffs, and even had some of the other runaways put them on to see if they fit comfortably enough to use. He doesn’t want to think about one of his friends using the Fistagons, because that’s supposed to be a last resort. Someone other than Chase using the Fistagons means someone other Chase could be staring death in the face. 

That’s the reality that Chase is really running from. The very real possibility that they might lose someone when they face Jonah and PRIDE again. Their parents had been killing for Jonah for almost two decades, and they’d already proved they would go to extreme measures even against their own children when they kidnapped Karolina. Chase doesn’t want to lose anyone else. Losing Amy two years ago had been hell, it tore the group apart and he’s still not sure that they’ve totally recovered. Sometimes it seems like they get along purely because they are constantly around each other, it’s hard not to care about people you see every day. He can’t imagine losing anyone else and he’s scared to find out what would happen if they did. He can’t imagine going a single day without trading jabs with Wilder, wrestling with Molly, teasing Nico about her heart eyes for her girlfriend, training with Karolina. He can’t even think about losing Gert and the soft intimacy they’ve settled into now that they’re finally, finally together. 

Chase shook his head to clear his thoughts, not wanting to spiral further into the all too depressing possible future, Instead he focuses on on the Fistagons again, propped up on special holders for easy viewing. He wished he had his blueprints, wanting to compare the final product to his original design. He’s halfway considering drawing up a new set of blueprints for Fistagons 2.0 when he feels a presence behind him. He can’t help but stiffen as he registers the person behind him, his back straightening and jaw clenching. He hates himself for the reaction, but he can’t help it. The air around him changed, the figure behind him embodies strength in every way and his reaction to such a presence who born from years of cowering beneath his father. He hates himself even more because Kara is nothing like his father. 

“Chase?” Kara asks softly. Chase can’t tell how far away from him she is, but he knows she stopped moving when Chase stiffened. “What are you still doing up?” 

“Tinkering,” Chase has to clear his throat after he speaks, his voice shaky, “gotta keep the Fistagons in tip top shape.” 

“Tinkering,” Kara draws the word out, still standing motionless a good distance from Chase, “at two in the morning?” 

“You’re awake too,” Chase doesn’t know why he’s suddenly so defensive. 

“There was a fire downtown,” Chase looks over his shoulder and sees that Kara is dressed in her Supergirl uniform, “I just got back and I could hear that someone was still awake.” 

“Right,” Chase nods. Sometimes he forgets that Kara has super senses along with all her other powers. Even in uniform, Kara always seems to human. He wonders if that’s intentional, if she’s always holding back from her true self. 

“Chase,” Kara said softly and Chase spun on his stool to face her. “Are you okay?” She asks so softly, so sincerely that Chase feels like crying. Kara exudes strength from her pores, yes, but she’s also the personification of love and empathy. It’s part of why Chase struggles to separate Kara and his father in his head. They’re so different in personality, polar opposites really, but an almost terrifying air of strength surrounds them both. 

“I-” Chase clears his throat again, feeling his eyes grow moist under Kara’s concerned gaze. She looks conflicted, taking a miniscule step forward, so small Chase probably wouldn’t have noticed if he wasn’t looking directly at her, before stopping again. Chase knows she’s waiting for him, to continue speaking or give any kind of indication that she could move closer. “I don’t think so.” 

He’s surprised by the admission, and then even more when he looks into Kara’s eyes and silently asks for something. He isn’t sure what he’s asking for, if it’s comfort or vindication. He almost expects to be chastised for his tears. Stein men aren’t weak, they don’t cry, not for anything. The sound that he makes when Kara hugs him is soul-wrenching, coming from the back of his throat as a half-choked sob. Chase is tall enough that when Kara hugs him, his head rests against her shoulder even when he’s sitting down. He feels the fabric of Kara’s cape against his hands as he hugs her back hard, the material soft and hard at the same time, just like Kara and the dam inside him breaks. 

He sobs into Kara’s shoulder, his cries driven by fear and hate. Fear of losing his friends, of losing Gert, fear of what he feels, the fear of facing his parents again and not being able to say for sure that they’ll all make it out okay. He hates PRIDE and Jonah from what they’ve done to his family. He hates his father, a deep, soulful hate that still can’t snuff out the craving Chase has for his father’s approval. He hates himself for craving that too, and it just makes him cry harder. 

If Kara is surprised by his outburst, she doesn’t act like it. Her arms are steady around his shoulders, her warmth soothing instead of intimidating as she focuses on making herself as soft and open as possible. She’s been concerned about Chase for almost two weeks, watching him lose sleep and train too hard. He’s been so driven by fear and hate and it’s running him into the ground. Kara wasn’t the only one who noticed, but neither Lena, Alex nor Maggie knew how to approach him. Their shared suspicion that Chase had been a victim of domestic abuse complicated matters. 

The four women were pretty sure Chase and greatly suffered in his LA home, but they didn’t think the other runaways had any idea. Gert was the only one they could see Chase having opened up to, but they weren’t sure that had actually happened. Chase seemed like the type to internalize, working out his problems in his head by distracting himself from them physically. Maggie had said it was a common coping mechanism, like Chase was making himself strong enough to beat the monsters in his mind since he couldn’t face the real ones. Except, Chase was going to face the real ones, because the Runaways had chosen to face PRIDE again and that put Chase in close proximity with his abuser. None of them had wanted to ask Chase about their suspicions, afraid he would lash out or shut down. They had hoped Chase would come to one of them on his own, when he felt safe enough to talk about what happened. 

“Why?” Chase asked suddenly, his voice more broken than Kara had ever heard. “Why did they do this to us? Why did he do it?” 

“Who, Chase?” Kara asks, because Chased switched from ‘they’ to ‘he’ and that could be the most important distinction. She feels Chase cling tighter to her and she’s sure she knows the answer, and when it comes tumbling from Chase’s mouth like a broken prayer, Kara feels her own heart break. 

“My dad,” Chase’s whole body is shaking as he cries, “why does he keep hurting me, Kara? I haven’t seen him in months and he’s still right here.” 

“I don’t know, sweetie,” Kara hopes Chase doesn’t mind the term of endearment that slips out before she can stop it. “I wish I did. I wish I could make it stop hurting?” 

“Why can’t you?” Chase sounds broken and angry, lost in the tidal wave of emotions he’s been holding back for far too long. He stiffens slightly in Kara’s arms. “You’re Supergirl, you’re a fucking superhero. Saving people is what you do.” 

“Saving people and stopping something from hurting are different things, sweetie,” Kara strokes his hair soothingly and can almost feel the fight leave his shoulders. “Some things will always hurt, and no matter how much I want too, I can’t change that.” 

“Then what can I do?” Chase looks up at her, hopeful in a way Kara had never seen before. In all the time they’ve spent together training and cooking and settling into this family they’ve created, this is the first time Chase has genuinely looked to Kara for answers. “How do I make it stop? I just want it to stop hurting. I’ve lost so much, we all have. I can’t take any more pain.” 

Kara fights against the tears that threaten to fall. The pain in Chase’s voice echoes the pain that has lived in Kara’s chest since she entered her pod and felt her planet die at 12 years old. It’s the kind of pain no child should ever have to face. 

“You keep fighting,” Kara says, the answer as simple and complicated as that. “I know it’s hard and tiring. I know you’ll want to give up and it’s okay if you do. Some days you just can’t fight back. Do you know what to do on those days?” Chase shakes his head against her shoulder. “You lean on your family. Gert, Alex, Molly, Karolina and Nico, they’ll all be there for you, however you need them to be.” Chase can hear the certainty in her voice. 

“No,” Chase shakes his head again, “I can’t do that to them. I can’t burden them with this.” Chase won’t be the cause of any strife for his friends, even empathy on his behalf. 

“It won’t be a burden, not to them,” Kara knows the reassurance isn’t enough just coming from her but she has to try, “just like it won’t be a burden to Lena, or Maggie or my sister. Just like it’s not a burden to me.” She can feel him start to lean away so she let’s go of his shoulders. When he looks at her, eyes shining with gratitude, Kara feels the same warmth in her chest that she’s come to know so well the past few months. A deep, almost maternal care for the six kids who stumbled into her life with their pet dinosaur. 

“Promise?” 

“Promise.” Kara offers him a kind, reassuring smile and receives a watery one in return. 

“Thanks, Kara,” Chase hugs her again, softer and more familia. Kara hugs him back gently. “Are you going to stay up?” 

“I think so,” Chase half-turns back to his work bench, “too wired to sleep.” His unexpected emotional release had helped clear his mind, but he was still too full of energy to get any rest. Besides, he had been awake for so long now it would be easier to just stay awake anyway. 

“I’m pretty useless when it comes to science on earth,” Kara says, “but I know sometimes having company helps.” 

“I don’t want to keep you up,” Despite what Kara said a moment ago, Chase still feels a little guilty about unloading his emotional turmoil on her. He’s not used to trusting adults with emotional problems, having just barely gotten used to trusting adults to give a crap about him in the first place. 

“Don’t worry about that, I don’t need as much sleep as humans. Plus, I spent decades drifting through a timeless pocket of space sound asleep, so I’ve got a good stockpile.” Kara smiles when that pulls a chuckle out of him. “Hungry?” 

“Not for anything you’re going to cook.” He mocks, glad Kara will let him shake off the emotional talk they had earlier without pushing him to talk more. 

“How about heat-visioned take out then? I picked up plenty on my way home.” Kara’s suddenly glad she decided to indulge her craving for potstickers and fried rice after putting out the fire. Chase voices his agreement and Kara playfully muses his hair, glad that she pulls a half-hearted yelp at the motion. It’s more of a reaction that she thought she’d get and she knows it’s because Chase is feeling more like himself. She sweeps out of the workshop and up the stairs. 

“Hey, there you are,” she’s unsurprised to see Lena is awake and sitting up in the bed they’ve shared for the past week and half. “I was starting to get worried.” 

“Sorry,” Kara moves over for a quick kiss before heading to the closet. “I’ve been home for a little bit, but I got held up downstairs.” She changes her suit out for a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt. 

“By what? Is everything okay?” Lena questions as Kara emerges from the closet again.

“Everything’s fine, don’t worry,” Kara kisses her again. “Chase needed to talk.” 

“Okay,” Lena hums, eyebrow raised in expectant curiosity but Kara doesn’t offer any more information. “Are you coming to bed then?” 

“No,” Kara pulls her hair up into a messy ponytail but leaves her glasses on the bedside table, “Chase is going to stay up working on the Fistagons and I’m going to keep him company.” There seems to be a lot that Kara wants to say, but won’t because she doesn’t want to discuss something that Chase told her in confidence, and without really meaning too. Luckily, her girlfriend is amazing and doesn’t press Kara for answers. 

“Please don’t break anything.” Is all Lena says, making Kara roll her eyes as she ducks down to give her one last kiss goodnight. 

Kara pauses briefly as she steps outside the bedroom she now shares with Lena, focusing her hearing to see if there is anyone else awake who might need something. She’s greeted with deep, even breathing and slow, steady heartbeats from all occupants so she heads back down the stairs. After a quick detour into the kitchen to reheat the food she picked up earlier, she joins Chase in his workshop again. He seems lighter when she returns, like he’s somehow better than he was before. Kara doesn’t bring up what happened before again, she doesn’t think Chase wants to think about it anymore. She’s just relieved she could do something, anything to lessen the pain he or any of the other kids feels. 

The next day, when Gert pulls her to the side, thanks her and pulls her into the most sincere hug they’ve ever shared, Kara knows Chase will be okay. Maybe not right away, but he will be. 

~ 

“Are we sure this is a good idea?” Maggie asks, again, as she stands on the front porch of the Mansion with Lena. 

“Kara seems to think so,” Lena shrugs, “she said she spoke with Chase about it.” 

Maggie hummed thoughtfully. They were waiting for Alex to arrive with James and Winn in tow. The four women had finally decided to bring the male superfriends into the secret, officially. Of course, Winn already knew the kids and a little bit about them, but neither Alex, Maggie or Kara had disclosed their exact location to him and he didn’t want to push the issue. You could never be too careful after all. James only knew what he occasionally heard on the news, which wasn’t much. It seemed PRIDE thought their children were hiding out somewhere in LA so the news that reached National City was no more than the initial bits and pieces. Maggie was unsure about having the guys around, purely because the Runaways tended to have more reactions to discussing the men of PRIDE rather than the women, especially Chase and Karolina. 

“And the others?” 

“I think Ratscrew is worried about more people knowing where they are, he’s determined that PRIDE has a man inside the DEO no matter how unlike that scenario actually is.” Lena says, half looking over her shoulder even though she knows all the Runaways are in the backyard playing with Old Lace during their break from training. “The others are wary, too, but choosing to be okay with this because they trust us.” 

“I feel like a mother of six and I’m not old enough to be any of those kids’ mom.” Maggie says with a slight laugh and Lena chuckles too. “Gotta say, I didn’t think I’d be raising six kids with you, Luthor.” 

“Same, Sawyer,” Lena rolls her eyes. “That’s something that we should think about, actually.” 

“What?” Maggie raises her eyebrow at Lena in question. “Want more kids?” 

“Not with you,” Lena teases back, “I mean about taking care of the kids. Eventually, their names are going to be cleared and PRIDE will be in jail. What’s going to happen to them after that?” 

“That’s up to them, isn’t it?” Maggie shrugs. “All of them except Molly are old enough to get legal emancipation, and she’s old enough to decide what she wants do after this is all over.” 

“I just don’t want them to think they have to leave after this.” Lena said, standing up straight as the black DEO SVU came into sight. 

“I don’t think they think that anyway, but we can ask them what they want to do before they head back to LA.” Lena nodded in response as she and Maggie stepped off the porch to greet the newcomers. 

“This is where all of you have been living?” Winn asked as he climbed out of the car, staring at the Mansion with an open mouth. 

“You knew about this?” James asked and Maggie looked over at Alex curisouly. 

“I haven’t filled him in on everything yet,” 

“You haven’t filled me in on anything.” James said, slightly annoyed. He knew Kara had been keeping something from him and he was sort of hurt that every one of his friends seemed to know something that he didn’t. 

“But we will now,” Maggie says, a short burst of wind signaling that Kara has landed behind them. “So, before we head around the side of the house, let us fill you in.” 

Taking turns, Maggie, Lena, Alex, and Kara filled the two men on what had happened so far with the Runaways, only to the extent that the kids had said they were comfortable with strangers knowing. They were innocent of the crimes they’d been accused of, their parents were the ones who actually did it, and they were going to keep them from doing it again. They left most personal information out and didn’t even mention the name ‘Amy.’ They didn’t even know who Amy was, only that she had a passed away two years ago, and they knew that the Runaways would not be comfortable with perfect strangers knowing about her. Kara made sure the two men knew she would not hesitate to physically remove them from the premises as soon as the kids showed any sign of being uncomfortable. 

“We brought you here to help,” Lena finished them off, “and we won’t hesitate to make you leave if you’re hurting them instead of helping.” 

“We’ll do whatever we can,” Winn promised, James agreeing at once. They both know that it’s important to their friends that these kids make it through this. James isn’t really sure what his purpose is here, but he’s always willing to help someone in need. 

“Let’s go then.” 

The shift in the backyard that occurs as soon as Winn and James appear is evident and obvious. The chatter dies down, Old Lace takes a defensive stance beside Gert in response to her sudden spike of anxiety. Chase stiffens, standing up straighter and Alex matches him. Kara can see Nico’s hands twitch, one towards Karolina and the other towards her staff. Karolina takes Nico’s hand in response, and Molly moves slightly closer to Gert. It’s the reaction Kara was expecting and she nods reassuringly at each teenager in turn when they make eye contact with her. 

“Everyone, this is Agent Schott who you may have seen the last time we were at the DEO,” 

“Hey, guys, I’m Winn.” Winn offers a little wave but doesn’t move forward at all. He receives acknowledging nods in response. 

“And this is James Olsen.” 

“The photographer, James Olsen? The one who won a pulitzer for that picture of Superman?” Karolina asks curiously. The others look at her in surprise. 

“That’s me,” James hopes his smile doesn’t look too bright to be sincere. “You’re Karolina right? You like photography?” 

“I guess, I’ve never tried it before.” Karolina shrugs slightly, remembering the art trip she had wanted to go on the day this mess started. There was going to a photography portion of the trip, Karolina remembered, and she had thought it might be interesting. 

James nods, looking like he doesn’t know what to say next so Maggie steps up. The kids return to training under her direction, a wary Alex W. joining James on the sparring mats for a boxing lesson and Chase heading inside to get his Fistagons for Winn to see. Karolina returns to the pull up bar with Gert counting her reps for her and Nico helps Molly load the weights onto the bench press. 

It happens slowly, but the Runaways relax a bit. Winn and James seem to be going out of their way to make sure the Runaways are comfortable, keeping conversation to lighter topics and making a conscious effort to not stare at Old Lace. Alex didn’t think the Runaways would say anything, but she knew they we’re grateful for the extra help. They didn’t trust the two men yet, Alex hadn’t expected them too, but it was comforting for them to know they had someone else watching their back from the DEO, and the support of the acting CEO of one of the most influential publishing companies in the world. She knows they made the right choice bringing in Winn and James when the Runaways invite them to stay for dinner. 

It’s gratifying and it warms Alex’s heart to see the kids giving Winn and James a chance to earn their trust. She knows it’s because the trust her, and Kara, Lena and Maggie. That they know they wouldn’t let anything happen to them if they could help it. Winn helps Chase fine tune his Fistagons and James teaches all of the kids boxing moves that may be helpful if the fight gets down and dirty. They have two weeks left until the Runaways return to LA and Alex can see the weight of that resting heavy on each teenager’s shoulders. 

It only gets worse when a news report comes across the screen a few hours later, claiming that the six teenagers suspected of murder and kidnappings have had all charges clear, a man named Darius taking the fall. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the delay on this and that it's shorter than usual. Real life kinda took over and then I became obsessed with juliantina so....sorry! 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed and feel free to come chat with me on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/oimdil13)
> 
> -Ambs


	13. Chapter 13

Kara was beginning to wonder if any of the residents of the Mansion were sleeping at all. Chase had been staying up late tinkering with his Fistigons for days before Kara had discovered him and he still did so, though he had been waiting for Kara to come home from her evening sweeps the last four nights before calling it a night for himself. He wasn’t the only one staying up late. Kara had found at least two Runaways awake and all three other adults in the Mansion up when she returned long after the sun had gone down. Soon after she touched down, those still awake would crawl into bed. Kara didn’t know if it was because they didn’t feel safe enough to sleep until she was home, or if they didn’t want Kara to come find them and see why they were awake like she had done with Chase. She was worried about the kids, how could she not be. They were just teenagers, none of them older than 17 and Molly only 14, and they had the weight of the world on their shoulders. No child should ever have to learn that their parents are evil. No child should have to consider what to do when they fight their parents for the safety of the world. No child should have to fight for the safety of the world period. But these six kids were willing to risk everything, their families, the lives they had lived, for a world of complete strangers. 

 

They didn’t all have powers but there was no denying that they were heroes in their own rights. 

 

On this particular evening, a little less than three weeks until the Runaways would return to LA to face Jonah and PRIDE, Kara returned home to find all of the inhabitants of the Mansion awake and active, as well as the extra heartbeats of Winn and James still on the premises. Kara frowned, it was later than normal for her to return anyway as there was an outbreak of fires in the eastern suburb that the firefighters couldn’t get under control and she had stayed for a little while after the fire was out to make sure everyone was okay. She had expected only Chase and Lena to still be awake when she arrived home. Instead Kara could hear eleven heartbeats, spread out all around the house. Karolina was in the backyard with Molly, shooting laser beams of her lights at different targets that Molly was throwing for her, Maggie keeping watch over both of them. Nico, Lena and Alex D. were in the kitchen, Kara could tell they were talking but made a point to not listen hard enough to hear exactly what they were saying. Chase was in the room he had made his laboratory with Winn, presumably working on creating another set of Fisitgons. James and Alex W. were in the library. The last heartbeat, belonging to Gert, lead Kara to one of the balconies off the unoccupied rooms at the end of the hall, even beyond the room Karolina and Nico shared. Kara focused in on Gert’s heartbeat, hearing that it was greatly elevated and a frown of concern creased her brow. 

“Gert?” Kara asked as she touched down on the balcony Gert sat on. The young purple haired girl perched with her back against the far railing, Old Lace curled up at her side and resting her large head in Gert’s lap. She jumped slightly when Kara called her name again. 

"Fine, I'm fine." Kara frowned slightly at Gert's rushed words, her eyes a little too wide to be completely calm. Kara took a seat across from her. 

"You're heartbeat says otherwise." She notes with a slight inclination of her head. 

"You can hear that?" Kara nodded. "But you're not doing that squinty head tilt thing!" 

"What? I don't do that," Kara shook her head slightly. "Don't change the subject. What's on your mind, Arsenic?" 

"I think a shorter answer would be what isn't on my mind." Gert sighed, smoothing her hand across Old Laces scaly neck. The dinosaur let out a soft pur like sound. “Why did we ever think we could do something like this? We’re not fighters, not like actual physical fighters. I’m not made for that. You want a peaceful protest? A march for our rights? I’m your girl. I’ll make the flyers and buttons and stand around with you all day but I can’t do this.” Gert was we aware that she was beginning to ramble but seemed unable to stop herself. 

“Stopping an evil alien who just so happens to be related to one of my best friends in the world and who also helped mine and my friends parents secretly murder kids for the past two decades? I’m so not your girl for that. That’s not me. Maybe Chase could do something like that, and Nico since she’s got the Staff but not me. I’m not strong enough.” 

“Gert, breathe. Slowly, in and out,” Kara interjected before Gert could begin another long winded spiral. She waited until Gert had taken several deep breaths and then spoke again. “You can do this, Gert.” 

“You can’t know that.” 

“Maybe not,” Kara shrugged, “the same way that I can’t know what’s going to happen when I put this cape and skirt on every day,” Kara gestured to her super suit which she still had on. 

“Why the cape? Didn’t you ever watch the Incredibles?” 

“But I do know what I can do,” Kara ignored Gert’s comment, “I know that I can do what I need to, to save the people I need to save.” 

“It’s different for you,” Gert mumbled, though Kara could hear her loud and clear. “You’re a literal superhero. You can save everyone.” 

“No, I can’t.” Kara’s eyes grew soft suddenly, a far off look in them that Gert had never seen before. “I don’t always save everyone. I couldn’t save my aunt.” 

“Your aunt?” Gert leans forward slightly, resting more of her weight on Old Lace who shifts beneath her to support her weight. Kara nods softly and begins the story of finding out her Aunt had also survived the destruction of Krypton, because she had been in prison in the Phantom Zone at the time. Kara spoke about her aunt’s mission, noble but misguided. Astra had only wanted to help people, save Earth the way she’d failed to save Krypton. The saddest part, Astra had seen the error of her ways, had wanted to help Kara, work with her instead of against her. Astra had been killed by Kara’s own sister, wielding a kryptonite blade. 

“Astra isn’t the only person I haven’t been able to save,” Kara says, thinking back to the CatCo employee who had jumped from the window under the effects of Myriad, of all the lives that had been lost in Daxamite Invasion. “It was a hard lesson to learn, it hurt. It still hurts. But I don’t stop trying, I can’t let the fear of losing keep me from doing what I can to help.” 

“If we lose, we lose everything. Our parents, our homes,”  _ each other, ourselves, _ “we’ve already lost so much. Darius is dead because of us.” 

“You don’t have to save the world Gert, and what happened to Darius is not your fault.” Kara slowly reached forward, placing a comforting hand on Gert’s shoulder when she gave no indication that she was uncomfortable. “You don’t have to save everyone. You can’t. Sometimes, the only person you can save is yourself, and that’s okay.” 

“They’re counting on me,” Gert says after a beat of silence. When she looks up at Kara again her eyes are watery. “I can’t be the weak link. I can’t be the reason we fail. Me and my stupid brain chemistry.” 

“You are not the weak link.” Kara’s voice is soft but resolute. “Not unless you believe you are.” 

“You’re just full of these rousing super hero speeches, aren’t you?” 

“Comes with the cape,” Gert cracked a smile at Kara’s joke and considered that a win. “Do you want to come inside or are you gonna stay out here for a bit?” 

“I’ll stay out here,” Gert rubs her hand over Old Lace’s snout, “easier to think.” 

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it.” Kara climbed to her feet and dusted her hands off on her skirt before leaping over the railing. Gert heard a few voices greeting Kara loudly and smiled again. She didn’t know why they had come to National City or how it worked out that Alex and Maggie found them, but she was happy that they did. They were good people, Alex and Maggie both with protective streaks and calming auras, Kara’s sunny disposition and fierce support for them, Lena’s quiet acceptance. It all meant so much to Gert, and her friends, to have adults they could trust. Still, Gert couldn’t help but feel like they were disrupting the lives of the adults helping them. They all had jobs, Maggie and Alex had a wedding to plan, Lena had a company to run and Kara was a superhero and reporter. The longer they stayed, the more Gert felt like they had to leave. 

It was wrong of them to depend on the adults at the Mansion so much. They needed to let them live their own lives, not have them worry about six teenagers with too many problems for their own good. A short peal of laughter from the backyard told Gert it wouldn’t be easy to let this place go, and she could only hope things would turn out alright. 

 

“Is Gert okay? She’s been up there for a while.” Molly says after Kara touches down in the backyard. She tosses the last box up in the air for Karolina to shoot down and watches as the box shreds into pieces when Karolina’s laser beam hit it. 

“You’ve gotten stronger,” Kara remarks to Karolina and then turns back to Molly. “She’s okay, Old Lace is with her.” Molly nodded slightly. “It’s late, why is everyone still up?” 

“Couldn’t sleep,” Karolina shrugged, moving to sit on the bench near the workout equipment. “Nico either. I don’t think Chase or Alex even made it upstairs.” 

“So you decided to train instead?” Kara questioned lightly. She heard footsteps and turned her head slightly as the group from the kitchen joined them. Nico moved to sit with Karolina and Molly, Alex and Maggie stood together on one side of Kara while Lena came to the other, wrapping her arm around Kara’s waist. 

“I needed to do something, I thought maybe I could burn off some energy. Tire myself out.” Karolina shrugged again. Nico, sitting in Karolina’s nap, wrapped her arm around Karolina’s shoulders. 

“You’re anxious.” Maggie says simply. Molly, Nico and Karolina share a look before nodding. 

“It’s hard not to be,” Nico says, feeling Karolina’s arm around her waist squeeze gently. “With what happened to Darius and us going back to LA soon.” 

“What happened to Darius isn’t your fault, none of you.” Alex reminds them softly. “You couldn’t have known they would do something like that, or if it was Jonah.” 

“Doesn’t matter who did it,” Karolina shook her head. “It shouldn’t have happened. Maybe we could have stopped it.” 

“You think you should go back to LA now?” Maggie asked, picking up on the words Karolina didn’t want to say. The idea that they could have changed things, stopped Jonah sooner if they could get the jump on him, was one she had been expecting to hear since they learned of Darius’s fate. Although, she had expected it to come from Alex or Chase rather than the typically more mild-mannered Karolina. 

“I think Jonah and Pride needs to be stopped, before they hurt anyone else.” Karolina felt Nico shift in her lap but didn’t look up at her. 

“I understand that, Rainbow, but what about the people on the ship? If we stop Jonah before he can get the ship to the surface, we’re condemning them to being buried alive.” It was Molly who had spoken up. “We won’t be any better than our parents if we do that.” 

“Maybe we don’t need to Jonah to get the ship up,” Karolina could feel Nico’s hands slip into her hair, scratching at her scalp soothingly. Karolina took a deep breath and dropped her head to Nico’s shoulder. “I just want this to be over.” 

Karolina was so tired of feeling this way, useless and scarred while they waited for the right time to face Jonah again. She was tired of waking up knowing she was one day closer to potentially losing all the people she loved. She wanted to live without that stress, without wondering if there was something more she could be doing because she was able to do something. 

“It will be,” Kara distentagled herself from her half embrace with Lena and moved to crouch in front of Karolina and Nico. “Karolina, it won’t be like this forever. It will be better. I promise.” 

Karolina, without lifting her head from Nico’s shoulder, looked at the crouching superhero. Hope and fear lit her eyes in equal measure and Kara nodded her head slightly to reaffirm her promise. 

“Don’t forget that you aren’t alone. You have us,” Kara gestured at the three women still standing, “and your friends. Whatever happens, we’ll still be here.” 

“She’s right,” Lena moves to put her hand on Kara’s shoulder. “We aren’t going anywhere. You’re stuck with us.” The teasing words bring a smile to Karolina’s face. 

“We’re family,” Nico presses her lips to Karolina’s forehead. “We fight together. Always.” Karolina nodded and pressed closer to Nico, feeling a second kiss dropped against her hair. A moment later, a loud sigh prompted her to look at Molly who was covering her mouth with her hand as she yawned. 

“Guess the extra training worked,” Molly said, stretching lightly as she stood from her seat beside Karolina and Nico. She shuffled away from the group, saying her goodnight’s over her shoulder as she entered the back door. 

“I think she’s got the right idea,” Maggie said, leaning into her fiance slightly. 

“Me too,” Alex agreed, wrapping one arm around Maggie’s waist. “We’ll see you ladies in the morning.” The couple walked off leaving only Kara, Lena, Nico and Karolina in the backyard. 

“Try not to stay up too late, you two,” Kara said as she rose to her feet again. “No training tomorrow but we still need to work on the plan for LA.” 

“We’re not far behind you,” Nico said and watched with a smile as Kara and Lena walked away together. Once they were out of sight, Nico turned her gaze back to her girlfriend only to find Karolina already looking up at her. Karolina offered her a small smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Nico smiled back, scratching lightly at Karolina’s skull again. “Sleepy?” 

“A little bit,” Karolina felt her eyes drift closed for a moment and then opened them again. She stared into Nico’s eyes for a moment, before the blue orbs lit up with an idea. “Do you want to fly with me?” 

“Now?” Nico asked, half shocked and half excited. Karolina smiled at her. 

“Sure, not for long. You don’t have to.” 

“I’d love to fly with you,” Nico said warmly. It was the truth. She had been wondering what it was like to fly with Karolina since the first time she saw it happen but hadn’t wanted to pressure Karolina into flying with her. 

“Okay,” Karolina shifted her hold on Nico and, once she was secure, stood up with Nico cradled to her chest. “Hold on to me.” She whispered and waited for Nico to give her a nod to signal she was ready. 

Karolina released the hold on her power and let the light fill her being, decorating her skin in a multitude of colors and then letting the light lift her from the ground. She loved this feeling, light and free and bathed in colors. She looked down at Nico, seeing the glow of her powers reflecting on her girlfriend’s skin as they drifted higher above the mansion. Karolina was careful to not go to high up, not wanting to be seen by a plane or anything else that may be flying above them. Instead she hovers just above the roof of the mansion, tilting her head up to see the stars above them. 

Nico cast a glance up to the sky but she was much more interested in looking at the girl holding her. Karolina seemed so much more relaxed now, exuding a warmth that came from more than just her powers. Nico was sure she could spend her life living in that one moment, safe and warm in Karolina’s arms, drifting high above the world that seemed determined to make them fight for more nights like this. 

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Karolina spoke softly a moment later, her gaze still focused on the sky above them. 

“Yeah, it is.” Nico agreed, sliding her hand to the back of Karolina’s neck. Karolina looked down at her, sighing against Nico’s lips when the smaller girl leaned up to press their lips together. They kissed gently for a moment, until Nico shift slightly, tilting her head and sweeping her tongue against Karolina’s bottom lip. Their tongues danced together in an increasingly familiar manner as Nico continued to move in Karolina’s arms until she had her legs wrapped around Karolina’s waist, both arms draped over her shoulders. 

“Do you want to go inside?” Karolina asked when they pulled apart to breath. She had unconsciously carried them towards the roof while they had been kissing and her feet rested on the angled surface. 

“Not yet,” Nico replied softly, swooping back in for a soft kiss. Karolina nodded slightly and carried them down to their balcony, where they settled together in the chair. Nico sat leaning back against Karolina’s chest, idly playing with their intertwined fingers that rested on her stomach. They were both content to stay that way until Nico finally fell asleep and Karolina carried her to bed. 

 

Alex Wilder stood in the library with James, only looking up from the book in his hands when he noticed the glow of Karolina’s lights in the window. He saw her, Nico in her arms, lift into the sky and felt a small smile on his lips. 

“Weird having a friend with superpowers, huh?” James asked, standing beside Alex. They’d been chatting a bit, mostly James asking about Alex’s interest in technology and hacking and how that had led him and his friends to the mansion. In the week that he had known James, Alex had decided that he liked the older man, he was strong and confident, unafraid to speak his mind or fight for what he believed in, though Alex didn’t trust him completely yet. 

“Even weirder when both of them do.” Alex chuckled slightly. “I’m glad they have each other now.”

“But you weren’t always,” James notes. It was something he had picked up during his years of being a reporter, how to read people, hear what they wouldn’t say. During the short time he’d known the six kids, he’d learned a lot about their dynamics as a group just by watching them interact. Nico and Karolina were the leaders, though most of that role fell to Nico. Molly and Chase were the muscle and the jokesters, Gert was the one who kept them all on track, with occasional help from Karolina, and Alex was the brains. 

“No,” Alex shook his head. “When this all started, I thought that Nico and I would be together. I’d had a crush on her since we were kids. But I screwed it up, kept secrets from her.” Alex closed the book in his hands and put it back on the shelf, pushing his glasses back into place with his other hand. “Guess it worked out for the better.” 

James nodded slightly. Something about Alex set his nerves on edge, not in a bad way, but it was curious. James had learned about the stress the kids were under, but it somehow seemed worse for Alex. He was protective by nature, but too unsure of himself. The weight on his shoulders seemed heavier in a way that James feared would crush him. 

“I get that. I once thought that Kara and I would - Why are you laughing?” James looked sharply at the chukling Alex. 

“Sorry, sorry,” Alex attempted to stifle his laughter. “I just can’t see Kara with anyone except Lena. We had a bet going about them you know? A part of me thought it would be pointless, that they had been together the whole time and just didn’t say anything because it was so obvious.” 

“Okay, yeah, laugh it up.” James rolled his eyes. He didn’t bother to mention that what happened between him and Kara was not only a long time ago, but also happened before Kara and Lena had even met. Instead he let Alex laugh about it, happy to see the kid smiling even if it was at James’ own expense. 

“Sorry,” Alex apologized again, James waved the apology off. “I am happy Nico and Karolina have each other, they’re my family. Nico’s my best friend and after what she went through, she deserves to be happy.” 

“What she went through?” James asked, brow slightly creased. “What do you mean?” 

“There wasn’t always six of us.” Alex said cryptically. “Nico’s sister, Amy, she died two years ago.” Alex pushed on his glasses again, blinking the tears away. He turned away from James, who had the good grace not to push anymore. It was the first time he had heard of Amy, and he felt his heart break all over again at the suffering these kids had faced. 

He had a feeling there was more to the story, that whatever happened to Amy was what weighed so heavily on Alex. Unsure of what else to do, James rested his hand on Alex’s shoulder and squeezed gently. He didn’t say anything else even as Alex turned back, wiped his tears away and then left the room. As he walked out he seemed lighter somehow, like he hadn’t allowed himself to cry in so long that doing so had freed a small part of him. James made a silent promise to Alex and the other Runaways that he would do whatever he could to help them. 

As James made his way out of the library, he ran into Winn and the two men walked into the kitchen where they could hear soft voices. Kara and Lena were seated at the small table, chairs close together, Lena with a glass of wine in hand and Kara snacking on what looked to be a plate of sandwiches. 

“I thought I heard the boys walking upstairs.” Kara said as the two men took their seats across from the couple. “Are they as nervous as the girls?” 

“I had to talk Chase out of making a specialized set of fistigons for all six of them.” Winn stole a chip off Kara’s plate. “Then I had to talk him out of trying to figure out how to make another Staff.” 

“They’re under so much pressure.” James shook his head sadly. “Why won’t they let you handle this? Fighting evil aliens is right up your alley.” 

“It’s not my fight.” Kara pushed her half-empty plate away. “Believe me, if I thought those kids would stay away from the fight, I’d take over in a heartbeat. But I know they won’t. This is about their family, their whole lives changed because of these people. I won’t pretend that I want them to fight, but I know trying to stop them is pointless.” 

“So you’d rather they go marching into danger?” James asked incredulous. 

“I’d rather they know that they don’t have to fight alone. I’d rather them not rush into this without any kind of backup and end up not coming home. You’ve got to pick your battles, James. They chose to fight Pride so I’m choosing to fight with them instead of against them.” Kara sighed, Lena’s hand resting on her thigh beneath the table squeezing gently. “I won’t let them get hurt.” 

“I know,” James deflated slightly in his seat. “I just hate this. They’re just kids. They shouldn’t have to go through this.” 

“No they shouldn’t.” Lena squeezed Kara’s thigh again, “But since they are, we can at least make sure they don’t go through it alone.” 

“Whatever help you need, I’m there.” James promised, Winn echoing a second later. 

Kara smiled her thanks to her friends, happy for their assistance. Still, she couldn’t help the feeling that things for these kids would get so much worse before they would ever get better. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So so so sorry this took so long to get an update! I got distracted with other things and well, this one kinda got lost in the shuffle for a bit.   
> Anyway, hope you enjoyed and as always feel free to come yell at me over on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/ambs-writes)


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